By Mark Hallum
The Bling Bling Body Works at 39-25 Bell Blvd. was shut down by the Police Department in a State Supreme Court order posted to the door.
The business, which occupied the upper level of the building, is alleged to have been shuttered for prostitution and unlicensed massage Sept. 16, according to the posting.
The massage parlor, whose owners were not known to the police, ran their operation on the second floor above an optician whose business is called Eye Supply.
An unidentified undercover agent provided the information for the summons and complaint, the posting said.
A spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney said the case was in civil court.
The recent bust is another added to the list of massage parlors in northeast Queens, which have been closed by authorities in recent months.
In August, three Murray Hill establishments were forced to close their doors after the NYPD’s Vice Enforcement Division unit gave the order to vacate. This followed an occupancy inspection by the city Department of Building, prompted by state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside).
Avella then notified the Queens DA and law enforcement about the DOB’s findings. Although the DOB’s investigation was not a human trafficking probe, the community has long feared such activity was taking place.
“It’s unbelievable just how many of these ‘massage parlors’ exist in our communities, operating under false pretenses in an effort to conceal illegal acts” Avella said after the August closings, while expressing fear that some of the women working in businesses masked as spas could in fact be the victims of human trafficking.
In a major crackdown back in March, 31 people in Flushing and Whitestone were arrested by the Queens North VICE unit of NYPD, which visited 18 establishments and brought suspects in on mainly unlicensed masseur charges. Other charges were prostitution related, the police said.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
