Tuesday, a group of people involved in making a documentary on the history of the Apollo Theater were discussing various people to be contacted for the project. Eugene Giscombe’s name were among those on the list because he was one of the brokers hired to sell the theater after it closed in 1976. Moments after his name was mentioned, a call came that Giscombe had died unexpectedly from a brain aneurysm.
He was not only a great loss to the project but also a vital force over the years in keeping Harlem a tourist attraction and commercially viable. He was 76 and died July 10 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, N.Y.
Giscombe, a longtime resident of Pamona in Rockland County, was born in Harlem, and it was here that he earned the sobriquet the “Mayor of 125th Street.” It was a nickname he acquired because of his business acumen and his Rolodex of notables, particularly in real estate. Hardly a major real estate deal transpired in Harlem during his active career that didn’t involve Giscombe or his company.
He founded Giscombe Realty Group in 1982, 10 years after his first foray into real estate, and quickly led the way in commercial real estate management, consulting, leasing, development and brokering deals. In effect, he was continuing the work his grandfather launched after the Harlem Renaissance.
During the growth and development of his company, Giscombe represented a wide range of clients in both the profit and the nonprofit sector. At one time, the company’s acquisitions totaled nearly 500,000 square feet, including Chase Manhattan Bank, Fourth Federal Savings and Loan, New York State Supreme Court, Bechtel Infrastructure, the Harlem Commonwealth Council and the Jewish Theological Seminary, to mention a few of the properties.
For more than 35 years the company was located in the Lee Building at Park Avenue and 125th Street, adjacent to the Metro North Train Station. Giscombe purchased the building in 1979 for $40,000. “This was the best decision I ever made besides marrying my wife,” Giscombe said. He sold the building last year for $48 million to Savanna Partners, a real estate company in New York.
Giscombe may have gotten his nickname from the fact that at one time he was the chairman of the 125th Street Business Improvement District. He also served on Community Board #10 and the Greater Harlem Real Estate Board. He was the recipient of many awards, as well as being named the Business Person of the Year by the Harlem Business Alliance.
He was also a big-game hunter, an endeavor he carried out across the globe, with 17 African safaris among his treks.
He leaves his wife, Shirley; children, Lesley, Susan and Lasalve; brothers, Gary and Ronald Giscombe; and several nieces and nephews
Any donations made in his name should be sent to Harlem Academy 1330 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10026 or Harlem Branch YMCA, 5 West 63 Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10023.
A memorial service is being planned for Giscombe, to be held in the fall, anticipated in mid-September. An update will follow.