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An order of eviction was granted to county attorneys in September for Keum Tree Day Spa, located at 255 South Little Tor Road in New City, due to the business owner's non-cooperation with officials and repeated breaking of the law, county officials said.
“This is a very clear message that we will not tolerate illegal activities in our county,” County Executive Ed Day said. “We will use every means available to shut them down.”
It is alleged that employees at Keum Tree Day Spa were "charged repeatedly with prostitution and performing massages without licenses following police raids on the business," officials said. Day noted that the employees are often replaced with new ones after arrests by the business owner.
Officials said the eviction is part of a collaborative effort between the county and the district attorney's office.
“We will use all the tools at our disposal to halt this type of criminal conduct, especially in cases that are fertile breeding grounds for human trafficking,” Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said.
The county is involved in a separate pending case before the state Supreme Court against Keum Tree Day Spa. They are seeking $1,000 per day from the spa for violating the public nuisance code, officials said.
This is the second such incident in as many months.
In August Rockland County won "a precedent-setting legal case" establishing a municipality's ability to levy civil penalties against places of prostitution and illegal massage parlors.
New City Spa, located at 55-71 S. Main St., was the business involved in that case. Workers had been repeatedly arrested and charged with prostitution there before it was closed down.
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