Massage parlor crackdown - Long Island Advance (subscription)

[massage]

Suffolk County Police Department and the Town of Brookhaven are jointly cracking down on the illegitimate massage parlors popping up on Route 112 in Patchogue and Medford, which have led to recent arrests. Also, a number of the establishments were shutdown due to code infringements by the town.

On Tuesday, Suffolk County police commissioner Timothy Sini hosted a press conference at the Fifth Precinct to announce the success. He said the operation was successful because of the hard work and collaboration of both the town and county.

“After receiving several complaints that prostitution was occurring at these locations we joined forced and took action,” he said.

A total of eight establishments advertised as foot spas and massage parlors on the Route 112 corridor were investigated.

Sgt. Colleen Cooney said earlier this month, Crime Section officers in the Fifth Precinct went under cover and received massages from 12 people who were not licensed. All 12 were arrested from eight establishments.

No acts of prostitution were offered to the officers at any of the locations at the time, Cooney said.

The following spas were investigated and the following were arrested for unauthorized practice of profession, a class E felony under the NYS Education Law.

The spas are: Relaxation Spa, Patchogue, Candy Foot Spa, Patchogue, Beautiful Spa, Patchogue, Complete Feet Spa, Medford, Sunshine Spa, Patchogue, Relaxation and Health Spa, Patchogue, Elim Spa, Patchogue, and Qugong Tui-Na, Medford. Those arrested were: Guisen Lu, 51 from California, Hong Liu, 43, from Flushing, Yinxue Zhang, 33 from Flushing, Boxuan Li, 27 from Flushing, Quian Zia, Flushing (two counts), Yun Lin, 42 from Flushing, Yueqin Song, 33 from Patchogue (two counts), Ping Li, 60 from Flushing, Yue Fen Xia, 52 from Bayside, Suling Lin, 52 from Flushing, Shunhua Wu, 57, from Flushing, and Yin Jin, 53 from Flushing.

Of those businesses, six received notification of building, fire and zonining code violations from the Town of Brookhaven with help from the fire marshal and building inspectors. Condemnations were posted and were deemed unfit for occupancy at Elim Spa, Beautiful Spa, Relaxation & Health Center, Sunshine Spa, Candy Foot Spa and Gigong Tui-Na.

Despite the charge and regardless of whether or not prostitution was or was not occurring at these establishments, the town’s goal was to just shut them all down.

Councilman Neil Foley recognized the seriousness of the issue after speaking with resident and secretary of the Medford Taxpayer and Civic Association Dayna Romano in late December. Immediately, he said, he met with her and Dave Moran, the deputy town attorney, to find a plan to eliminate the operations.

Within weeks, he explained, five were closed due to code infractions with the help of the town chief investigator and fire marshal.

The town officially wrote 41 appearance tickets and condemned six of the seven massage parlors given to them, the seventh was a legitimate operation. The remaining five, Moran explained, is currently being worked on with other precincts and one existed outside of town jurisdiction in Patchogue Village.

The problem, Legis. Rob Calarco (D-Patchogue) said, was that the parlors are showing up everywhere on Route 112 and have really taken off in the last year or so.

“They are popping up like wild fire,” he said.

At first, he explained, his office would report one to the SCPD and they would deal with it, one at a time. That worked for a while. But then after noticing so many, the SCPD issued a massive operation to crack down and clean up Rt. 112.

Over the past year, he explained, residents would notice spas opening up and not just your everyday spa, but spas that are noticeably different with the same generic posters and curtains covering the windows.

Operating without a license is a felony and is not good for neighboring businesses, he said. “It’s unfair to the legitimate business and needs to be cleaned up,” he added. “I’m glad the cops are doing what they should be and that they are putting extra pressure on these businesses preventing them from reopening.”

Romano said, these “businesses” bring down the value of the neighborhood and attract criminal elements that are unwanted.

“We are trying to build up the Patchogue-Medford community and these just bring it down,” she said.

She started noticing them over the summer after hearing residents complain. She said that she could tell just by looking at them that they were illegal.

“It’s obvious,” she said. “They try to pass themselves off as massage parlors but the storefronts have the doors and windows completely blocked out by curtains; it is a tell tall sign of illegal activity.”

Happy to hear about the crackdown, she said, she hopes it improves the neighborhood and the police stay on top of it. For now, she assured, she will be watching out for any type of business that looks illegal to set a tone that they are not welcome in this area.

Cooney said that the police would keep on top of the issue and hope that those who were arrested will learn and not make the same mistake twice.

“They are just fronts for prostitution existing in our neighborhoods,” said Calarco. “Our collaboration acts like a one-two punch to knock these entities out and we will continue to work together to make sure these [entities] don’t come back.”

Unfortunately, he explained, one or two individuals that continue to funnel the “girls” into the neighborhood most likely fund these operations. But, he said, with the county and town’s work a clear message will be sent.

Foley agreed, “we want to send a message that these operations will not be tolerated in the Patchogue-Medford community.”

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