Massage Parlors--Menaces or Scapegoats?

Yee's latest campaign targets Tenderloin establishments

BY BERT ELJERA

Photo by Jason Doiy

Paris Massage offers "American" masseuses to clients.

It's nine o'clock on a Friday evening, and the Tenderloin's massage parlors are doing a brisk business.

At the Paradise Massage on Jones and Geary, none of the women were available, and farther down the block at the Hong Kong Oriental Massage, the house was also full.

"Come back in an hour," said a burly man from behind a screen door at Fuji's Massage and Hot Bath on Eddy Street.

The Tenderloin, an area of less than one-half of a square mile, has 22 licensed massage parlors, roughly one-third of the city's total of 79, according to the San Francisco Planning Department. Most of the women are Vietnamese, Cambodian and Chinese immigrants; the owners are also mostly of Asian descent.

That is more than enough, says Supervisor Leland Yee, who is spearheading an effort to ban new massage parlors in the Tenderloin.

In a business as old as the neighborhood itself, massage parlors have long thrived in the Tenderloin, bounded by Van Ness Avenue to the west, Post Street to the north, Powell Street to the east, and McAllister Street at Market Street to the south

Yee has authored legislation before the San Francisco Board of Supervisor that also seeks to limit the parlors' hours of operation, regulate the use of signs, prohibit barkers in front of the business, ban the use of alcohol and require the establishments to clean up litter within 100 feet of the business.

"My goal is to support the efforts of the neighbors," Yee said. "When the community is trying to revitalize the Tenderloin, they are stonewalled in their efforts when new massage parlors come in."

He said the idea is to promote diversity of businesses in the Tenderloin, and have less of those that generally give the area a bad name. "Massage parlors stymie the revitalization of the neighborhood."

The proposed ordinance will go before the Housing and Neighborhood Services Committee and is expected to reach the board by the end of this month, Yee said.

His proposal has gained the support of residents and business owners in the area, one of the few places in the city where lower income people can still find housing.

Photo by Jason Doiy

The Empire Massage on O'Farrell Street is among 22 such businesses in the Tenderloin. Although many residents appreciate crackdowns, some say the police should focus on mere violent vices.

According to the 1990 census, there are roughly 35,000 residents in the Tenderloin, mostly elderly and single people. However, community activists say about 5,000 children also live in the Tenderloin, and the number of families with children is rapidly growing.

"We worry not only of the kids and adults, but we worry about the cleanliness and safety of the area," said Philip Nguyen, executive director of the Southeast Asian Community Center on O'Farrell and Polk streets.

The center provides a variety of services to Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Chinese and Filipino families in the Tenderloin, and houses a Head Start program for children.

The building is two doors away from the giant Mitchell Brothers adult theater and at least 100 yards from a couple of massage parlors.

"We just need to say, 'enough is enough,'" Nguyen said. "We think there is too much [massage parlors] already."

But some Tenderloin residents say that though massage parlors are not an ideal type of business to have around they have learned to live with them, and it's probably unfair to target them while leaving the adult shows, bookstores and video stores alone.

They also say that the number of liquor stores, where mostly young people congregate at night, are posing more problems that the massage parlors.

"I don't worry about" massage parlors, said Kim Chea, a Cambodian immigrant who manages the Tenderloin New Market on Leavenworth Street. "I close at 7 p.m. anyway."

He said a few massage parlors are near his business, but he does not worry about his children, ages 18, 16, 14 and 13, walking to the store in the afternoon.

"I've lived here 10 years," Chea said. "I know a lot of people here."

Most major crimes actually declined in the Tenderloin in January, compared to last year, according to police records.

There were 12 burglaries in January 1998 compared with 33 in the same period last year; 14 auto thefts compared with 40 last year; and 28 assaults, compared with 38.

However, there was one more rape (a total of four) than in January 1997, and one homicide as opposed to none.

Sgt. Kenny Sugrue said that in the 10 years he has been with the Tenderloin Task Force, he could remember only two incidents in which the police were called to massage parlors.

"If there's something going on, they don't tell us," Sugrue said, explaining that the businesses do not want to call attention to themselves.

Sgt. Ed Garcia and another permit officer are responsible for ensuring that the massage parlors comply with city codes. He conducts inspections, including checking the name tags and health certificates of the women.

The most common violation is not wearing a name tag, Garcia said. "It's been a long time since I was in an arrest situation," he said.

Back at Paris Massage & Sauna, potential customers were offered a 30-minute massage, unlimited use of the sauna, and pampering by "American" and "European" girls, the receptionist said, emphasizing the latter. Cost: $60.

At the crowded, mostly Asian Paradise Massage, the charge was $10 less for a 45-minute session.

A white customer spoke glowingly about the pretty "Oriental" girls. "They have the softest hands."

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