No more hanky panky. On the night of Thursday, June 25, the police department padlocked New Skin Spa, a beauty and massage parlor on E. Tremont Avenue near Coddington Avenue. Community Board 10 district manager Ken Kearns thanked the 45th Precinct; on Saturday, June 6, a raid netted a prostitution arrest and an unlicensed massage arrest at New Skin Spa.
CB10 alerted the 45th Precinct on tips from the neighborhood, Kearns said. The CB10 office is on E. Tremont Avenue one block south of the massage parlor. On June 25, the NYPD legal unit hit New Skin Spa with a court order and a restraining order. The owner of New Skin Spa – in China at the moment, according to an employee – will need to pay a fine and attend court if he or she wants to reopen. Attempts to contact New Skin Spa on Friday, June 26 were unsuccessful.
“This establishment’s closing confirms suspicions I’ve heard from many residents in the community over the course of several months,” Councilman James Vacca said. “This is certainly a case where I think we are all united in saying, ‘Not in my backyard.’”
Mary Jane Musano of the Waterbury LaSalle Community Association applauded the court order.
“I’m glad [New Skin Spa] is done,” Musano said. “When you shut down a business, you send a message.”
The owner of New Skin Spa is no stranger to Throggs Neck. He or she once operated a massage parlor on Randall Avenue; it was shut down, Kearns said. On June 6, police also visited Sun Spa, a City Island massage parlor. There were three arrests there – two for prostitution and one for unlicensed massage.
“We’re not going to tolerate these types of establishments in our community,” Councilman James Vacca said. “I want to thank the 45th Precinct for several months of consistent effort.”
