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Town by town, spa by spa, investigators from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office have been busting massage parlor owners and workers — as well as independent contractors who work out of hotels — on charges of servicing instead of serving customers.
Last week, 36 people were charged and more than $60,000 in profits seized in towns from Fairview to Ramsey. Most were workers. None were johns.
There was a decided concentration along the “Gold Coast,” with sex-related busts in Fairview, Cliffside Park, Edgewater and Fort Lee, and continuing up the Hudson into Englewood and Tenafly. Other towns included Bergenfield, Paramus and Rochelle Park.
This comes after last year’s concentrated effort in the Pascack Valley and elsewhere.
“The arrests took place on various dates over the past week as part of a county-wide prostitution initiative,” Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said.
The particular businesses were targeted as a result of “various citizen complaints made to local police departments, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office tipline,” the prosecutor said.
Besides the massage parlors, detectives also busted “in-call” operations, usually at hotels where the business owners set up shop for a short time before moving on, he said.
Over the course of several days, undercovers walked into massage parlors and hotel rooms, were propositioned, then slapped on the cuffs — of the police variety.
Owners and employees at various spas in Bergen County have told advertising representatives of CLIFFVIEW PILOT that the raids have had a chilling effect on business, even at those spas that go to great lengths to comply with health and decency codes — including keeping doors open and customers’ crotches covered at all times.
The sites hit last week by the prosecutor’s detectives, most of which were subsequently closed down by local health inspectors include:
Stress Reduction Center, 19 Spear Road, Ramsey;
Ion Spa, 875 Rt. 17, also Ramsey;
Aloha Spa, 481 Dean Street, Englewood;
Ocean Spa, Washington Avenue, Bergenfield;
Spring Spa, Portland Street, also Bergenfield;
Seven Spa, South Summit Street, Tenafly;
KOA Spa, Lemoine Avenue, Fort Lee;
Four Seasons Spa, Main Street, also Fort Lee;
Aroma Therapy, Bergen Blvd., Fairview;
Hudson Therapy, Old River Road, Edgewater;
Aqua Spa & World Health Spa, both on River Road, also Edgewater.
In addition, a 20-year-old alleged hooker from Englewood and a 33-year-old alleged pimp from Ridgewood were picked up.
Others charged include “escorts, along with their drivers, who would respond to a specific location, previously paid for by the clients, for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for money,” Molinelli said.
All got summonses and were released pending Municipal Court hearings, he said.
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