UWS Massage Parlor Shut Down In Prostitution Sting, Reports Say

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An Upper West Side massage parlor was shut down last month following a prostitution sting, according to reports.

The proprietors of Chinese Best Qi Gong Tuina Back Rub & Foot Rub and a masseuse at the parlor are facing charges after undercover officers visited the business and posed as customers to exchange money for sexual acts, the West Side Rag first reported. The Massage Parlor was shut down on Feb. 14 for being a "public nuisance," according to the report.

After receiving a tip about the business, two undercover officers visited the massage parlor on four different occasions in Fall 2018, the West Side Rag reported. During each visit the officers arranged to pay a masseuse $40 in exchange for "manual stimulation."

The NYPD Civil Enforcement Unit recommends shutting the business down for good, according to the report. Chinese Best Qi Gong Tuina Back Rub & Foot Rub is located in a building on the corner of Broadway and West 103rd Street. Building landlord Hank Fried was named in the NYPD lawsuit against the business, but Fried's lawyers claim the landlord had no knowledge of the business' actions, the West Side Rag reported.

Fried's Branic International Realty Co. recently filed plans to demolish the upper floors of the building in the midst of a legal fight with the city over the building's use as an alleged illegal hotel.