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Greenburgh officials are looking to shut down a Hartsdale massage parlor, Forest Yin Spa, where an unlicensed masseuse was charged with prostitution. Wochit

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Greenburgh officials are seeking to shut down the Forest Yin Spa, 100 No. Central Ave. in Hartsdale, after a prostitution arrest there in July.(Photo: Jorge Fitz-Gibbon/The Journal News)Buy Photo


GREENBURGH - The Greenburgh Town Board has revoked the license of a controversial Hartsdale massage parlor under a 2015 local law that has closed more than a half dozen similar establishments.

But the year-long turmoil surrounding the Forest Yin Spa, 100 N. Central Park Ave., may not quite be over, with the business questioning the town's authority to shut them down.

“We’ve taken a position from the beginning, and we’ve been very clear about this with the town, that the entire statutory scheme passed by the town is unlawful," said Peter Tilem, an attorney for the spa. "They’re regulating an area that is already regulated by the state. Massage therapists are licensed exclusively by the state.”

The controversy was sparked by a July 19 undercover investigation by town police during which one massage therapist was charged with prostitution and another was charged with performing massages without a required license.

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The town has scrutinized massage parlors since it passed a local law in 2015 that regulates the businesses, and seven have since closed.

Following the July investigation, Greenburgh Police Chief Chris McNerney recommended that Forest Yin be next.

“We have a law and we don’t condone illegal and improper practices," Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner said. "We don’t have a problem with massage facilities if they’re licensed and they’re doing it correctly. In this instance there was prostitution involved, which we don’t want to see on Central Avenue or in the town of Greenburgh."

The town delayed voting on the Forest Yin recommendation and reopened a public hearing on the move on Dec. 13 to hear from both sides in the debate. On Dec. 19, the board decided to vote to revoke the license.

Tilem, the spa's attorney, said it'll be up to his client to decide what to do next. But he said Forest Yin contends that, since massage therapists are licensed by the state, the town has no right to issue its own licenses for massage therapists to operate.

“It would be like Greenburgh saying to a doctor, 'Even though you’re a medical doctor licensed under the state of New York, you can’t open a medical practice in this town without getting a special license,'" Tilem said. "The state does not want that. The state does not want it with doctors, and the state doesn’t want it with therapists.”

In addition, Tilem said it's already a crime to perform massages without a license under New York State Education Law.

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The Greenburgh Town Board is weighing a proposal to shut down the Forest Yin Spa, 100 No. Central Ave. in Hartsdale, following a prostitution arrest there in July. (Photo: Jorge Fitz-Gibbon/The Journal News)


Twitter: @jfitzgibbon

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