Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Show World Center

Show World Center, the last of that bastion of all things nasty, is gasping its last breath on 8th Avenue. Today, Curbed and Gawker both picked up on the Post's report: "The Times Square area's once-raunchiest location is up for lease or sale, possibly spelling an end to what's left of porn king Richard Basciano's Show World Center at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street."



I am stricken by the news. Though Show World mostly disappeared a few years ago, it still retained a neon-lit rabbit warren of backroom and underground porn-tastic hideaways filled with video peeps, DVDs, magazines, and toys. You enter on 8th Avenue, but follow the many doorways and stairways, and you'll find yourself cast down and back, emerging after your adventure into daylight on 42nd, next to the entrance to a hotel that sports a gold glittering lobby.

(You will also find a treasure-trove of vintage Penthouse magazines, dating back to the 60s and 70s, on sale for a few bucks.)

It seems odd that Basciano would be selling the L-shaped building that also houses, in addition to Show World Center, his Times Square Arts Center, because he just signed a deal to develop more "wholesome" entertainment for the location. And last month he put up this flashy sign outside Show World's 42nd Street entrance/exit:



Just as the family-friendly Laugh Factory disguises a backroom packed with smut, I suspect this news is not what it appears and perhaps we haven't seen the last of Show World. It is still, even in its vanishing, the best show left in town. Especially now that the Playpen has been reduced to this sacrificial mudhole:



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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 4, 2008 at 4:16 PM

    Are they still open? You have another posting that Show World Center vanished in 2004.

    Just wanna have that last peep.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jeremiah MossJune 4, 2008 at 7:19 PM

    the old, main show world is closed, and the newer show world center, pictured here, remains. i think. at least it was still there last weekend. no live girls, though.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 13, 2008 at 6:42 PM

    I just found a coin with the address, a beautiful womans body and Show World Center on the back..is this coin worth anything?

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousDecember 2, 2008 at 10:32 AM

    I have never hear of this place, but I just came across I guess I'd call a token from here. I thought it was kinda cool, so I had to see what it was.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownDecember 20, 2009 at 3:10 PM

    I also found a token from this place and did not know what it was for.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMay 16, 2010 at 9:38 AM

    I used to work there; it put me through college though working there was an education in and of itself . . .
    Richard (the owner) has a big heart. Who can blame a guy for making money off something legal and prosperous? He is now in his 80s.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMarch 3, 2011 at 10:05 PM

    Anonymous said...

    I just found a coin with the address, a beautiful womans body and Show World Center on the back..is this coin worth anything?"

    Yeah, about $2, maybe $3, there's loads of them up on ebay, they aren't rare or valuable, but they are a piece of memorabilia of sorts.

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownMarch 19, 2016 at 4:36 AM

    My ex use to work at forty duece and eighth plenty of good times I was young 18 and she was 19 and bi turned me into a life of great adventures and good drugs. Opened me up to a whole new world it was amazing I explored myself and many others damn I do miss those days and life lessons. Glad I was able to live it and make it out alive the duece and 8th Ave made me the person I am today.true life experiences I would not trade it for anything
    Does anyone remember the gay bar on 53 and 3rd forgot the name or the bar on 48 between 8th and 7th.

    ReplyDelete

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