Luna Spa shut down in East Rockaway

Within four days of the opening of the Luna Spa, a foot massage establishment at 138 Main St., the Village of East Rockaway Building Department shut it down, citing two building code violations. The business opened on Dec. 24 and closed on Dec. 28, according to the village.

“The business closed because of an illegal use for the zoning district, which is commercial,” East Rockaway Mayor Bruno Romano said. “A spa, in the village code, is identified as an adult use, and therefore is not a legal use.”

The violation is pending and is under investigation, Romano added, saying that the Nassau County Police Department’s 4th Precinct had not yet been contacted.

A sign posted on the front door of the spa by the village lists the infractions: operating an adult use within 500 feet of a residential zone and a public park, and operating without a valid certificate of occupancy.

Alain Lustig, an agent at PBT Realty who rented the property to the Luna’s owner, said that the infractions were the result of a communication error. The business owner, who Lustig said is relocating the spa from Suffolk County and requires an English translator, advertised “foot massages and showers,” which Lustig attributed to a language barrier.

Romano said that the property owner is responsible for ensuring that his or her tenants are compliant with the village code, and added that the violations were not sent to the business owner. Lustig said the owner went to Village Hall on Jan. 4 to attempt to resolve the situation, but she did not bring a translator. “The only option for the business would be to apply to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a variance,” Romano said.

Another representative of PBT Realty, who declined to be identified, said that he recommended that the spa’s owner hire an architect to help her conform to “strict” village building and zoning codes, and added that she has invested a lot of money in the business. “She’s really trying to make it work,” he said. “She’s not breaking any rules.”