By Dan Gesslein
A Bronx pol is looking to put the smack down on rub down parlors that offer to massage more than just your back. State Senator Jeff Klein is calling for a crackdown on massage parlors and spas that have been busted for prostitution. The call comes on the heels of the raid of a third such hot sheet spa in the senator’s district.
The most recent raid occurred at Glow Day Spa on Hobart Avenue in Pelham Bay. There, officers from the NYPD’s vice unit conducted two arrests for alleged prostitution inside the spa. News of the arrests shocked local residents because the spa operated in the middle of a commercial district surrounded by local businesses that have been there for decades. Klein and community leaders said the spa’s owners were so brazen that they advertised alleged sexual services on Craigslist and adult sites.
The senator has called on the Board of Regents to revoke the spa’s license.
“It was very surprising for this to occur in a homeowner community,” the senator said.
This is the third incident in Klein’s district. A “massage” parlor, Sun Spa, was closed on City Island and another salon, New Skin Spa, was closed on Tremont Avenue near Lehman High School. Klein is authoring a bill to strip owners of their massage license if prostitution arrests are made in their businesses.
“There should be a trigger that if there is illegal activity on the premises that the owners lose their license immediately,” Klein said. “There is no place for this kind of activity in a hardworking community.”
Pelham Bay residents have long had their suspicions of Glow Day Spa. Recently, merchants failed to see customers go into the site. When the spa opened the large windows were clear and people walking by could see customers getting pedicures and manicures. Within the past few months, large posters covered the windows and there appeared to be no customers in the spa.
Some merchants claim that customers looking for manicures were being turned away from the nail salon. And recently community leaders found out the massage parlor had placed ads on Craigslist and adult websites allegedly advertising sexual services.
“You would never know what was going on in that place,” Klein said.
“I’m glad that the senator got rid of it,” said Anita Valenti, vice president of the Pelham Bay Taxpayers and Civic Association. “This is a family oriented community. I couldn’t believe that something like this was going on.”
She said when a type of business with a questionable history like massage parlors, open up in the community the police need to be vigilant to ensure that no illegal activity is being committed. However Valenti said in the current economic downturn such vigilance will be hard to come by.