New York: Wall Street Sauna Shuttered

On July 8, a five-judge panel of the New York Appellate Division in Manhattan unanimously ordered the Wall Street Sauna shut down for violating Section 24-2.2 of the state's Sanitary Code. That section states, "No establishment shall make facilities available for the purpose of sexual activities where anal intercourse, vaginal intercourse, or fellatio take place. Such facilities shall constitute a threat to public health."

The court's decision reversed a February 23 ruling by Acting Supreme Court Justice Louis B. York, who had responded to a pre-trial motion by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene by issuing a preliminary injunction against sexual activity at the facility. York limited the scope of his injunction and decided not to order Wall Street Sauna closed based on an assurance by its owner that a new manager would crack down on improper activity. However, after city inspectors presented new evidence of ongoing Sanitary Code violations, York on May 26 ordered the closing of the upper floor, where the activity was allegedly taking place.

In the new joint opinion, the panel wrote, "The record of proceedings on the original motion establish to our satisfaction that high-risk conduct was so pervasive at this establishment that the new management's promises cannot be deemed a sufficient safeguard against their continuation." The judges continued, "We note that the court's limitation of the closing directive in its subsequent order to only a portion of the premises would probably cause the high-risk conduct to migrate to the portion of the premises permitted to remain open, especially in view of the demonstrated unreliability of WSS's prior representations."

Back to other news for July 21, 2004