Judge orders Graniteville spa shut down; city alleges prostitution there - SILive.com

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — In a major crackdown in the summer of 2015, six spas on Staten Island, which allegedly served as fronts for prostitution, were shut down from Port Richmond to Tottenville, according to Advance/SILive.com reports.

One of those establishments was Zen Zen Spa at 1401 Richmond Ave. in Graniteville.

Now, nearly six years later, Zen Zen Spa will be shuttered again as the city and Police Department allege acts of prostitution are still taking place there.

State Supreme Court Justice Lisa Grey has granted the city’s request for a preliminary injunction to close the ground-floor spa pending the disposition of a civil lawsuit.

Earlier this month, the city and the NYPD sued Zen Zen Spa alleging it is a public nuisance.

“The legislative declaration by the Council of the City of New York finds that prostitution interferes with the quality of life, property values and the public health, safety and welfare,” contend the city and NYPD in an affidavit submitted as part of a lawsuit. “Further, it finds that the continued occurrence of such activities and violations is detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the people of the city and of the businesses thereof and visitors thereto.”

According to the city Administrative Code, any building, including one- and two-family homes, used for prostitution as defined under the state Penal Law is considered a public nuisance.

In a civil complaint, the city alleges women at the spa agreed, on two separate occasions, to perform a sexual act on an undercover officer in exchange for money.

The first incident occurred on Aug. 20 of last year; the second was three weeks later on Sept. 10, contends the complaint.

The investigation was launched after police received complaints that prostitution was occurring at the spa, the complaint said.

The city contends there is only one way to deal with Zen Zen Spa: Shut the place down for a year.

“Those individuals involved in these illegal activities may still have access to the subject premises,” allege the city and NYPD. “As a result, the opportunity for illegal activity and the consequential negative effect on the surrounding community still exists. A closing order is the only effective remedy to immediately abate this serious public nuisance and protect the surrounding community.”

Besides Zen Zen, the suit names P & J Richmond Corp. as a defendant.

P & J is identified in the complaint as the property owner.

Since the public knew about the purported prostitution at the spa, it’s “reasonable” to infer the defendants also knew or should have known what was going on there, the complaint alleges.

Besides shuttering the establishment, the city wants the defendants to take an additional hit to the pocketbook.

The city seeks a civil penalty of $1,000 imposed on the defendants for each day they “intentionally conducted, maintained or permitted the public nuisance.”

In her default order, Grey noted the defendants did not appear at a virtual conference to oppose the city’s application.

The preliminary injunction will remain in effect until the lawsuit itself is resolved. Grey’s order was filed on Wednesday.

A woman who on Thursday answered the phone listed to Zen Zen said she is the manager. However, she hung up when a reporter inquired about the lawsuit.

Subsequent calls to that number were redirected to another number. No response was received to a message left there.

Online corporate records of the New York Department of State show an address for P & J Richmond Corp on Bath Avenue in Brooklyn.

A phone message left there for P & J Richmond was not immediately returned.

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Judge orders Graniteville spa shut down; city alleges prostitution there - SILive.com
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