Chief: “Alarming ad” leads to arrests at Sunny Island Foot Spa in Northport Village

Northport Village police arrested two women from Queens last week, citing “unauthorized practice of a profession” at the recently opened Sunny Island Foot Spa on Fort Salonga Road.

The foot spa has been advertising its services for months, though it has not yet received official approval from the zoning board to convert the space into a massage parlor. 

According to Northport Village Chief of Police Christopher Hughes, who reported on the investigation at tonight’s Village board of trustees meeting, he and other law enforcement officials first became aware of an “alarming ad” on Craigslist around the beginning of June. The ads, as confirmed by Hughes, advertised the location’s grand opening at 377 Fort Salonga Road as a foot spa offering Swedish, deep tissue and oil massage, referencing “sweet and discreet pretty girls,” and the “best service” by “young and beautiful girls from Asia.” That ad has since been removed. Another ad posted in July does not mention the spa’s employees. 

“Our investigation began immediately and included surveillance of the location,” Hughes said.

On July 17, applicant Kimberly Greer appeared before the Northport Village Board of Zoning Appeals and requested an adjournment until the September meeting so she could have additional time to gather evidence to support her application, according to minutes from the meeting. She was requesting that the property, formerly Tin Rooster, be converted from a first-floor merchandise space to a massage parlor. 

Zoning board officials agreed to adjourn the application and gave a temporary allowance for the business to operate until then, in part to not compromise the ongoing police investigation, said Deputy Mayor Meghan Dolan at tonight’s board meeting.

During the month of July, investigators entered the foot spa on two occasions; “each time the investigators were offered massage services which were clearly advertised inside the location,” Hughes said. 

On August 8, 50-year-old Jing Fang Zhou of Flushing was arrested for unauthorized practice of a profession. The next day, 38-year-old Lisi Ou, also of Flushing, was arrested for the same crime, Hughes said.  

According to the New York State Education Department, unauthorized practice of a profession involves any person or entity who practices one of the licensed professions without a license authorizing him/her to practice, and/or who falsely represents him/herself as authorized to practice such a profession. It is a class E felony punishable by prison time, probation, fines and other conditions imposed by the court. 

Similar arrests have taken place at foot spas and massage parlors in the area, including in March 2024 at Cleopatra Foot Spa and Ruyi Healing Inc., both in Huntington. Charges there included unauthorized practice of a profession and prostitution, a misdemeanor. Last year, arrests for the same charges were made at Time Foot Spa and Happy Foot Spa on Larkfield Road in East Northport.

While no evidence of prostitution was found during the investigation at Sunny Island Foot Spa, Hughes said, their ads “were found on several websites known to advertise adult services.” The mere messaging in the ads can easily attract individuals looking for those types of services, Hughes added, noting that during the investigation, only male clients were seen entering the location.

Hughes thanked Detective Stephen Kerekes, the lead investigator in the case, as well as the Suffolk County district attorney’s office for their assistance in the investigation. “With DA [Raymond] Tierney’s team, we were able to work together to identify an illegitimate business and to effectively end their illicit operation,” Hughes said. 

Since the August arrests, “the location appears to be vacant and no further traffic has been observed entering the establishment,” he reported.