Two East Farmingdale Massage Parlors Busted for Prostitution

By Andrea Halpern

Suffolk County Police last week raided two massage parlors in East Farmingdale, arresting a total of 10 people on prostitution-related charges, and confiscating thousands of dollars in cash, the law enforcement agency has reported.

The arrests, which came on two separate occasions, were made at the Yuraku Salon at 200 Route 110 and at Golden Fingers at 82 Rome Street.

The Yuraku Salon is located in a commercial building with several units. A 39-year-old woman from Flushing, Queens was arrested there on Dec. 3 and charged with two counts of prostitution and an outstanding bench warrant. In addition to making the arrests, the police seized contraceptives, massage tables and $1,410 in cash.This was the fourth prostitution related raid at this location since February of 1996.

Golden Fingers is located in a one-story factory building in a heavily industrial section of East Farmingdale. Those arrested on prostitution charges ranged in age from 40 years old to 51 years old. One is from Flushing, Queens, one from Woodside, Queens, and the other from Meterie, Louisiana. Those arrested on charges of patronizing a prostitute ranged in age from 28 through 76. Two are from Massapequa, one is from Huntington Station, one from Sayville, and one from Commack. A 72-year-old man, who was arrested and charged with permitting prostitution, has an address unknown to police. Town of Babylon Fire Marshals also responded to the scene and issued several summonses to the occupants.

Golden Fingers had only been operating for a few weeks at the time of the Nov. 29 raid, according to Sgt. Joseph Marino of the Suffolk County Police First Precinct Crime Section, which conducted an undercover investigation of the spot. "It`s a new establishment," he said. "That was the first time that we had raided it."

In addition to making the arrests at Golden Fingers, police also seized a large quantity of contraceptives, massage tables and $1,770 in cash. Inside this parlor, Marino said, there is a lobby and waiting room in the front, and a hallway leading to about three or four massage rooms. "Golden Fingers was very active," he said.

The Town of Babylon often refers to a local law, the Public Nuisance Law, in order to permanently close down illegal massage parlors that persistently operate within its confines. The town has closed 14 illegal massage parlors, demolished 25 so-called "crack houses" and boarded up many others under the law, which was enacted in 1994, according to Bob Clifford, director of public information for the town. Under the law, if the police have made one or more prostitution or drug related arrests on the property on more than one occasion, town officials, working with the town attorney`s office, schedule a public hearing about closing down the establishment. After hearing public comment, the town board decides whether or not to order the closure or demolition of the establishment through resolution.

An original version of the town law was first enacted in Suffolk County in 1989, after being sponsored by Richard H. Schaffer, the current supervisor for the Town of Babylon, who at the time was a Suffolk County legislator. When Schaffer became supervisor, Clifford said, he brought with him the idea for the public nuisance law, and pushed for the enactment of another version of it in the town. In 1995, the law was replicated in the Town of Huntington as well, he said.

"Working with the police, we`ve seen some success in closing down some of these illegal operations, whether they be in residential neighborhoods or commercial areas," Clifford said, referring to the Town of Babylon`s application of the Public Nuisance Law. The town consistently pays attention to this type of establishment, he said, because, "It damages the character, especially of residential neighborhoods, and usually brings illegal drug activity with it."

Sgt. Marino, too, believes in the power of the town`s public nuisance law. "It works. We`ve closed several places," he said.

The Yuraku Salon, is one to which this law may be applied, according to Clifford. "Our Town Attorney`s office will be in touch with the police department," he said.

The operators of the Yuraku Salon scribbled a message on the window of the parlor shortly after the raid, telling patrons that it was closed temporarily but would re-open in four days, according to witnesses who conduct business in East Farmingdale. The witnesses described the parlor as very active, and expected it would re-open within a few days.

A woman who answered the phone at the Yuraku Salon earlier this week said that one "girl" currently works there. She then recanted her statement, saying that no one works there any longer.

The Town of Babylon attorney could not be reached for comment with regard to the application of the Public Nuisance Law to the Yuraku Salon.

Most illegal massage parlors that have been busted within the Town of Babylon are located in residential rather than commercial areas, according to Clifford. "I don`t recall many being in East Farmingdale," he said. "Most of these problems pop up in residential communities."

To the best of the public information official`s knowledge, the town has not received any complaints from the public about the East Farmingdale salons. "Usually, when we get complaints from residents, it`s about an illegal massage parlor or a crack house operating in a residential neighborhood," he said, adding that the illegal massage parlors are most likely to operate in buildings with absentee landlords.

Clifford noted that persistent contact with the landlords is the town`s key to ridding the area of the illegal establishments.

Sgt. Marino also alluded to the important role the landlords play in the authorities` efforts. "From what I understand, the landlord there wants to cooperate," he said, referring to Golden Fingers. "But we`ll see."