There will be no more “happy endings” in Bay Ridge.
A dozen massage parlors that allegedly doubled as brothels and advertised “sweet young girl” and “best Asian massage” on Craigslist and Backpage.com have been busted for prostitution after invading the quiet South Brooklyn community, authorities announced yesterday.
“There were 19 massage parlors in a relatively small area. Now, we know that people in Bay Ridge have back pain, but we don’t think that it’s enough to sustain 19 massage parlors,” said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Raids on parlors with names like Cherry Blossom and Dream Bodywork netted arrests of three owners and 16 alleged prostitutes.
The online ads, which featured photos of buxom Asian women, offered one-hour massages for $50, but a police source said the parlors sold sex for $100 a throw.
Prosecutors said the parlors were not connected, but all the prostitutes gave the same answers when they were collared.
“They would say they had a child back in China and this was the first time they had been involved in something like this,” a police source told The Post.
The parlor owners and alleged hookers were arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court yesterday on charges including promoting prostitution and prostitution.
“I think the owners should all be shot, but [the employees] are all victims, in a sense,” said defense attorney Alan Stutman.
The arrests were the result of a yearlong investigation involving surveillance, undercover detectives and search warrants. It was spurred by residents’ complaints.
“It seemed almost overnight that our bucolic neighborhoods of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights were becoming more like the old 42nd Street,” said City Councilman Vincent Gentile.
Kelly said: “[Prostitution] can very quickly erode the quality of life and certainly debases women and encourages the scourge of human trafficking from Asia and other parts of the world.”
The FDNY and the Department of Buildings found some of the shops in disrepair, officials said.
“We discovered two buildings in such dangerous physical condition that they must be vacated, and in both the buildings, DOB and FDNY inspectors observed conditions that posed a risk to the safety of those inside,” said Kathleen McGee, director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement.
Prosecutors said the prostitutes included women from China and Korea.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said the investigation was ongoing.