Hartsdale massage parlor hit with another arrest, closure - The Journal News | LoHud.com

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Greenburgh officials are looking to shut down a Hartsdale massage parlor, Forest Yin Spa, where an unlicensed masseuse was charged with prostitution. Wochit

A woman was arrested at Forest Yin Spa.

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The Greenburgh Town Board is weighing a proposal to shut down the Forest Yin Spa, 100 No. Central Ave. in Hartsdale, following a prostitution arrest there in July.(Photo: Jorge Fitz-Gibbon/The Journal News)Buy Photo


GREENBURGH - An embattled Hartsdale massage parlor may have been shut down again after a woman was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly working there without a license.

Xiaonu Jin, 53, was charged with unauthorized practice of a profession, a felony, for her work at Forest Yin Spa at 100 N. Central Park Ave., Greenburgh police said.

Jin is accused of passing herself off as a licensed massage therapist, even though she did not have the required state license, police said. The resident of Flushing, Queens, was released on $100 bail.

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Police said the Greenburgh Building Department closed the spa, which the town has been pushing to shut down amid recent charges of prostitution and unlicensed operation.

No one answered phone calls to the spa this morning, but its lawyer, Peter Tilem, said the business should be open barring a court order.

Xiaonu Jin, 53, was arrested on Jan. 9, 2018, and charged with working as a massage therapist without a license at Forest Yin Spa in Greenburgh. (Photo: Greenburgh Police Department)


"They do not have the authority to close the spa," he said of the town.

On Dec. 19 the Greenburgh Town Board voted to revoke the spa's license under a 2015 town law that has shuttered seven similar businesses. On Dec. 28, though, Alan Scheinkman, then chief judge for the Ninth Judicial District, ruled that Forest Yin Spa may stay open until Jan. 9 as the dispute plays out in court.

Tilem said on Wednesday morning that the court order had been extended to allow Forest Yin Spa to continue operating after Jan. 9. He has said that the town has no right to grant its own licenses for massage therapists to operate, since they are licensed by the state.

Greenburgh officials have contended that there is no place in town for massage parlors that do not operate within the law. Police and Building Department officials did not respond to messages seeking comment about Tuesday's closure of Forest Yin Spa.

Twitter: @MattSpillane

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