Queens Officials Crack Down On Flushing's Fake Massage Parlors

FLUSHING, QUEENS — City officials are cracking down on prostitution along a tiny but notorious block in downtown Flushing.

City Council Member Peter Koo on Friday announced efforts by law enforcement to shut down massage parlors on 40th Road that were fronts for sex work. Koo is also pressuring local landlords to evict tenants engaging in illegal activity, he said.

"For too long, this pervasive issue has plagued our community, but we are here to say that ends today," Koo said. "In the past, crackdowns result in the problem going away for a little while only to resurface again. This will take consistent enforcement, and my office plans to stay engaged on this matter with police, business owners, landlords and the community.”

Koo will also host a sex trafficking seminar in Flushing with police and local women’s shelters.

Once affectionately called "Restaurant Row," this small stretch of Flushing has become a red light district where girls solicit pedestrians for sex, the New York Post reported. In 2017, a sex worker on 40th Road leapt to her death as police were about to arrest her.