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Consents & Variances
224 West 35th Street and 7th Ave, Bamboo Garden Spa, Inc., application to legalize the operation of a physical Culture Establishment.
WHEREAS, Bamboo Garden Spa is an existing physical culture establishment offering as per the application "Asian, Swedish & Shiatsu Massage;" and
WHEREAS, The premises is on the basement, ground floor and mezzanine of a seventeenth-story office building and contains 4241 square feet of floor area. The spa has eleven (11) rooms for massage therapy, one shower room, one steam room, and one table shower (exfoliation) room, as well as an employee break room, waiting and reception areas, and a storage/laundry room.; and
WHEREAS, The spa's hours of operation are from 10:00 am to 1:00 am, seven days a week; and
WHEREAS, The application states that approximately nine employees will be employed by the spa, including three licensed massage therapists, one manager, receptionist, cleaners; and
WHEREAS, Four young heavily made up women observed working on the premises at the time of the site visit could not be identified by the management but were described only as "students" and/or "friends;" and management could not provide any elaboration regarding how many "students" and/or "friends" were present on the premises at the time of the site visit, or work there from time to time; and
WHEREAS, Paid advertising for the said premises can be found on the website www.adulteroticmassage.com, a website that lists establishments providing erotic massages in NYC; and
WHEREAS, Two of the three therapists whose licenses are attached to the application filed by the applicant are no longer registered massage therapists with the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, Bamboo Garden Principal also operates Garden Retreat Spa located in CB5 district, a Physical Culture Establishment which application was denied by CB5 in July 2008 for concerns about their method of operation; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five is gravely concerned with the method of operation for Bamboo Garden Spa; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends denial of the application to legalize the existing Physical Culture Establishment at 224 West 35th Street; and be it further
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five urges the Department of Investigation for the Board of Standards and Appeals to thoroughly investigate the exact nature of the services proposed by the establishment, and the presence of numerous unlicensed employees in the premises.
The above resolution passed by a vote of 42 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining.