X Rated: Cops Say Upper East Side Spa Is Really a Brothel
Police ordered the building on E. 73rd St. between First and Second Avenue to be closed on May 15 after they claim the spa was operating as a house of prostitution. It was the second UES spa to be shut in less than a month.
A spa on the Upper East Side accused by cops of operating as a brothel was permanently shut down on May 15 following an investigation involving undercover police officers, according to court records.
Zen Body Works, located at 330A E. 73rd St. between First and Second Avenues, was permanently shuttered May 15, according to a legal notice posted on the business’s front door.
Its the second spa in a residential neighborhood on the UES that cops claim was offering sex for sale. The No. 8 Spa on East 86th St. between First and York Avenues was padlocked on April 22.
In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court in the last sex trade crackdown, city attorneys allege the Zen spa operated as an illegal prostitution business disguised as a massage parlor. Court filings state undercover NYPD officers visited the location on multiple occasions and were allegedly offered sexual services in exchange for money.
According to the lawsuit, investigators observed women at the spa allegedly offering sex acts to customers after massages for additional cash payments. .
The lawsuit, names the property, the building owner 330 Real Estate Associates LLC, and unidentified operators connected to the spa. A judge ordered the location temporarily padlocked Feb. 18 while the case proceeded through court, records show. On May 15, the building was ordered permanently closed.
But there sketchy owners who operated the business have apparently not been apprehended.
City attorneys are seeking a permanent court order barring illegal activity at the address and permission for authorities to seize property and materials allegedly connected to the operation.
The city is also seeking civil penalties of $1,000 per day for every day the alleged illegal conduct continued, according to the filing.
Court documents further claim the building owner and operators “knew or should have known” about the alleged prostitution activity taking place in their building and failed to stop it.
The defendants have not publicly responded to the allegations made in court filings.
Reaction from neighborhood residents ranged from unsurprised to shocked.
“I’ll say one thing, I’m not surprised,” one Upper East Side resident said while walking through the neighborhood. “There’s a couple of the same type of people around here doing the same thing. Trust me, I would know. I’ve been living around here for a long time.”
Another resident said she was unaware of the allegations until hearing about the closure.
“I had no idea. I’ve been living on the Upper East Side my whole life,” the woman said. “Wow, I’m going to have to look this up when I get back home.”
Discussion about the shutdown also spread onto the neighborhood platform Nextdoor, where commenters debated the legality and enforcement of prostitution laws.
“But the criminals in high places have yet to be arrested,” one user identified as J.M. wrote. “The police aren’t doing their job. There should be no such reason to have these prostitution laws.”
Another user, identified as T.V., wrote: “Sex work is work.”