Rubbed the wrong way: The City is moving to close a Lexington Avenue spa accused of offering sex acts.
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The City is suing to shut down an Upper East Side massage parlor that allegedly rubbed customers the wrong way.
The Wan Mei Li Spa, operating on the second floor of 799 Lexington Ave., became the target of an NYPD undercover investigation after a member of the community filed a complaint in January alleging that the spa was dabbling in prostitution.
The NYPD launched its investigation into the claim and documented two separate incidents of alleged illegal activity, according to court filings.
On Feb. 21, an undercover officer received a massage in exchange for $80 and, during the massage, was allegedly offered manual stimulation of his penis for an additional $40.
Police said that on March 12, a second undercover officer was allegedly offered a 30-minute massage for $60, along with an offer of sexual intercourse for an additional $200.
When contacted by amNewYork, the Wan Mei Li spa confirmed that it is still operational but declined to comment on the allegations in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that the spa’s windows displayed images of people receiving massages and advertised a phone number, which the NYPD said connected to online advertisements promoting “explicit services.”
A search of that number on by officers on April 15 turned up ads on escort websites containing suggestive language such as ‘I will be your favorite sensation,’ ‘I’m sweet as honey,’ ‘No rush BJ,’ ‘Nuru Massage,’ and ‘Here to fulfill all your fantasies.”
When contacted by amNewYork, the Wan Mei Li spa said it is still operational but declined to comment on the allegations in the lawsuit.
The City argues that the business is a public nuisance under local law and that both the operators named Wan Mei Li Inc., Wan Mei LLC, and the building owners, 799 Lex Realty Associates LLC, and three affiliated LLCs, should have known of the illegal conduct.
The lawsuit seeks to close the premises for one year, citing violations of state prostitution and criminal nuisance laws. It also requests fines against the spa operators and building landlord of $1,000 per day for each day the alleged nuisance continued.
City attorneys argue that even after the undercover operations, those involved in the activity may still have access to the premises, posing an ongoing risk to the community.
Attempts to reach the building’s owners for comment were unsuccessful as of press time.
