Flushing's little red light district

NY Post


A tiny Queens block has become a booming hotbed of hookers operating out of at least eight Chinese massage parlors, The Post found.

The slim strip of 40th Road in Flushing’s Chinatown, just a short walk from Citi Field, has become a 24/7 destination for sex-seeking horndogs from all over the metro area, as “masseuses” brazenly compete for johns on the narrow sidewalks.

One former NYC crimefighter said he hasn’t seen such a dense concentration of flesh factories in years.

Non-Asian men are specifically targeted by the Chinese pimps, working girls and spotters who steer customers into storefront spaces or second-floor “spas” for hour-long encounters.
 
It’s the same block where a prostitute committed suicide in 2017 by leaping from a building as she was about to be arrested during a NYPD sting.

 The Flushing Business Improvement District says it’s identified eight brothels on that block, between Prince and Main, just around the corner from the Flushing Main Street MTA/LIRR station.

Customer expecting happy ending goes berzerk

From the Daily News:

A customer flew into a rage at a Queens spa when he didn’t get a “happy ending“ to his foot massage and attacked two workers with a hammer — before smashing their piggy bank tip jar to pieces, cops said Sunday.

The wild rampage was caught on surveillance video released late Saturday by cops who are asking the public’s help tracking down the brute.

The mayhem began when the creepy customer demanded his money back from a 55-year-old worker at Tao Spa Bodywork on 40th Rd. near Main St. in Flushing around 10:30 p.m. Thursday, cops said.

He had ordered a foot massage and was unhappy his request for a so-called happy ending — an erotic massage — was turned down, according to police sources.

When the worker refused him a refund for the foot massage, he went berserk and pulled out a hammer, dragged her into the 24-hour spa’s front waiting room and punched her in the face, the video shows.

Two other employees tried to come to the woman’s aid, but the man grabbed one of them, a 56-year-old woman, by the throat and pushed her against the wall while brandishing the hammer, the video shows.

The women finally gave the customer $40 to get rid of him, police said. Still unsatisfied, he shattered a yellow piggy bank sitting on the front counter with his hammer, snatched the tip money scattered on the counter and dashed off, cops said.

Prostitute plunges to her death during sting

From the Daily News:

A prostitute jumped to her death from a third-floor window atop a Queens building while trying to escape arrest during an NYPD sting operation, cops said Sunday.

The 38-year-old woman was working in an apartment above a massage parlor on 40th Road near Main Street in Flushing Saturday night, when she agreed to perform a sex act for pay on an undercover officer, cop sources said.

She bolted out a window when the cop’s backup tried to enter the apartment and arrest her, cops said.

Other officers posted outside watched as she plummeted to the sidewalk below at about 9:30 p.m., cops said.

Peralta vs. prostitution

From the Queens Chronicle:

Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights is widely regarded as a hotbed of prostitution and human trafficking. And state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) wants to give law enforcement another tool to crack down on businesses acting as a front for the problem.

The lawmaker has introduced legislation mandating massage parlors to get a license from the New York Department of State that allows them to operate, a practice required for many businesses. According to Peralta, some — but not all, he emphasized — of the parlors are fronts for prostitution. One thing he pointed out about some of the businesses is that people on the street pass out cards for them late at night.

“The legitimate places are open from, like, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.,” the senator told the Chronicle. “These folks are open late at night. In particular over the weekend; one o’clock in the morning, they’re still operating.”

Many constituents weary of the massage parlors have complained about them to his office, Peralta added.

His bill would make massage parlors get four-year licenses from the state, which they would have to display, showing customers that they are complying with the regulation. The businesses would also have to get a bond or liability insurance.

Massage parlors operating without the license will not be taken lightly: The punishment could be paying $2,500 and spending six months behind bars.

Flushing couple pleads guilty to sex trafficking

From PIX11:

A couple from Queens and massage parlor manager have pleaded guilty in a “cross-county sex trafficking ring” after two women were forced to perform lewd acts on customers for several months, the Nassau County District Attorney said Friday.

Zhaowei Yin 49, and his wife Shuwen Ai, 47, of Flushing, pleaded guilty on Friday to two counts of sex trafficking, a felony, and two counts of promoting prostitution in the second degree.

Parlor manager Li Fei Leng, a 33-year-old also from Flushing, pleaded guilty to the same charges Tuesday.

Will new massage parlor bills make a difference?

From the Queens Chronicle:

After months of banging the drum for legislative help when it comes to cracking down on illegal massage parlors, Capt. Mark Wachter, commanding officer of the 104th Precinct, may finally get his wish.

A package of five bills aimed at hampering the ability of such entities to operate illegally was introduced jointly by Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven) and state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) this week, with Wachter saying it will no longer be easier to close a bagel store than it will be a massage parlor in New York City should the legislation pass.

After months of receiving complaints from southwest Queens residents of parlors opening on Myrtle and Metropolitan avenues either without licenses or with a specialty in illicit sexual services, Wachter took action late last year.

A handful of establishments closed after he assigned an officer to sit outside their front door in a police cruiser for days at a time, but Wachter said it wasn’t unusual to see them reopen in another location a short time later.

Other areas especially plagued by illegal massage parlors include Corona, Flushing and Bayside.

But according to Addabbo, the legislation he introduced requiring landlords to verify the license of a prospective massage therapist tenant before entering into a lease agreement — with a violation resulting in a $1,000 fine for the former — could curb the practice.

Other pieces of legislation introduced would require all massage parlors to not obstruct the view into the building’s lobby from the sidewalk; require the licensee of such a venue to be on the premises at all times during business hours and require that landlords evict any parlor proven to have promoted prostitution or operated without a license.

The final bill provides the city Department of Consumer Affairs the full authority to both enforce the provisions and impose fines on problematic locations.

Flushing couple charged with Long Island sex trafficking

From WPIX:

A Queens couple has been charged with sex trafficking after forcing two of their employees into performing sexual acts on customers in massage parlors they owned in Nassau County, a county prosecutor announced Thursday.

Zhaowei Yin, 49, and his wife, Shuwen Ai, 46, of Flushing were arrested by authorities following a months-long investigation by Nassau County police and District Attorney investigators.

Massage parlors proliferating everywhere

From WPIX:

On a rainy Monday approaching midnight, PIX11 Investigates took a drive along Northern Boulevard in Little Neck, Queens, heading east toward the Great Neck border. We noticed blinking, neon lights in two storefronts standing side by side. One of them was called “Relax Station,” and the blue and white sign indicated it was open. The next store had a red awning; the sign advertising $19.99 rubs for 30 minutes.

These are the spas of Little Neck and Douglaston in eastern Queens, and in the last couple of years, the name FOOT SPA has appeared increasingly on the signs.

PIX11 took note of the trend in our travels and decided to look into the phenomenon.

No happy endings

From the Queens Courier:

The NYPD’s Vice Enforcement Division arrested seven people at four different massage parlors in Maspeth and Ridgewood for allegedly not being licensed to perform massages and for offering sexual acts to clients.

The arrests were made on March 5 at 66-47 Grand Ave., 66-49 Grand Ave., 65-50 Grand Ave. and 52-01 Metropolitan Ave., police reported. According to detectives, none of the locations had the proper state Department of Education licenses to perform massage therapy.

At the 66-47 Grand Ave. location, law enforcement officials said an undercover detective was offered a massage and sexual intercourse by the defendant Chin Fen Lee, 52, for a sum of $140.

Police identified Liu Jia-Jia, 33, Li Hai Fang, 33, and Carol Hong, 29, as the defendants at the 66-49 Grand Ave. location. Jia-Jia reportedly offered an undercover detective a massage for $60, followed by an offer to perform a sexual act on the detective for $80 extra. Fang reportedly offered to perform a massage on an undercover detective for the sum of $60, and offered and agreed to perform a sexual act on the detective in exchange for an additional $40.

Police said one defendant — Ning Hao, 34, who worked at the 65-50 Grand Ave. location — reportedly agreed to perform a massage on an undercover detective for $60, then offered to perform a sexual act on the undercover detective for an additional $100.

Meihua Piao, 51, from the 52-01 Metropolitan Ave. location, allegedly offered an undercover detective a massage and sexual act in exchange for a sum of $60, police reported.

Prostitution bust at Maspeth spa

From the Times Newsweekly:

Two workers at a Maspeth day spa were locked up last Friday, Nov. 22, for allegedly offering to perform sexual acts for cash on a pair of undercover police officers posing as customers, law enforcement sources said.

Police identified the suspects as Mary Deng, 43, of Grand Avenue in Maspeth and Mao Anting, 41, of Bowne Street in Flushing.

Reportedly, the bust took place between 6:25 and 6:50 p.m. last Friday at the Natural Health Body Work spa located at 65-50 Grand Ave., near 66th Street.

According to information provided by the Queens District Attorney’s office, Deng allegedly agreed to perform oral sex on one of the undercover officers in exchange for $100 cash.

Police said Anting allegedly made an offer to a second undercover officer to perform manual stimulation, also in exchange for a $100 payment.

After the offers were agreed upon, both Deng and Anting were taken into custody by police on charges of prostitution.

According to court records, they were arraigned last Saturday, Nov. 23, in Queens Criminal Court before Judge Toko Serita, who released them on their own recognizance. The suspects are scheduled to return to court on Dec. 13.

If they could do it in Bay Ridge, why not Flushing?

From WPIX:

NYPD officers arrested 19 people in a prostitution crackdown on various “day spas” and “massage parlors” in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, authorities announced Thursday.

“In this case, there were 19 massage parlors in a relatively small area,” said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. “Now we know that the people of Bay Ridge have back pain, but we don’t think it’s enough to sustain 19 massage parlors.”

The arrests come after a year-long investigation that began after neighbors complained of “suspicious and disruptive activities,” according to the D.A.’s office.

“I hope that these arrests will send a message not only to the communities of Dyker Heights and Bay Ridge, but throughout Brooklyn, that I share their concerns regarding these purported “day spas” and “massage therapists” and we will not tolerate illicit operations that exploit women and blight neighborhoods,” said D.A. Hynes.

The bust was the culmination of a joint investigation by the Kings County District Attorney Special Investigations Unit and the NYPD’s Brooklyn South Vice Unit. Using undercover detectives, surveillance and search warrants, the operation revealed “substantial evidence of prostitution” and a string of work-related and zoning law violations.

The arrests included both workers and owners at 12 different establishments.

Rape at Flushing massage parlor

From the Daily News:

Cops are investigating a rape at a Queens massage parlor Saturday.

Sources said the victim was attacked inside the Union St. shop near Northern Blvd. in Flushing at about 5:30 p.m.

Paramedics rushed the woman to Queens General Hospital in stable condition, officials said. Her attacker remained at large Saturday night.

Police sources said they don't know exactly what transpired at the massage parlor, noting there's a "language barrier" between investigators and the Asian victim.

Cops were seen entering and leaving the second-floor business - its windows covered by a neon "Open" sign and pictures of men and women getting massages - for most of the night.

The attack occurred at a time when communities are complaining about the proliferation of massage parlors and spas that stay open late and where workers provide more than just rubdowns.

Yeah, by the way, there's a website where you can find out what's "on the menu" at each massage parlor. Nice, eh?

Van Bramer vs. Dutch Kills whorehouses

From the Times Ledger:

City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and civic leader George Stamatiades said they are determined to fight two spas in the Dutch Kills area they suspect of being illegal businesses.

“It’s contrary to everything else that is happening in the Dutch Kills-Long Island City community,” Van Bramer said.

The councilman’s office said the community was concerned with two spas, one on 37th Avenue called Smile Dawa, and another on 38th Avenue called Asian Body Work. They said these parlors may be fronts for prostitution or other illegal sex activities.

“It’s a situation where it’s a quality of life issue and we have to address it,” Stamatiades said.

The voice mailbox for Smile Dawa was full when TimesLedger Newspapers called. The manager for Asian Body Work was not available for comment.

Smile Dawa had previously been closed by the NYPD and three arrests were made, one of which was for solicitation, Van Bramer’s office said.

But to close the establishment permanently, the location needs to be cited three times.

Stamatiades said the police were doing their job, although the system makes it difficult.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Stamatiades said. “Does that mean you can rob a bank three times?”

No need to hop on the 7 train anymore, boys!

From Sunnyside Post:

Sunny Spa, a new Asian massage shop, has opened on 45-09 40th Street.

The store first came to this site’s attention by the placement of an “adult” classified ad placed by its proprietor on the website backpage.com (click for link)

When called, the owner of the spa was unable to communicate in English the services she was providing.