STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The city has gone to court to shutter a Stapleton massage business where, a recently filed lawsuit alleges, acts of prostitution have occurred.

The Asian Spa at 651 Bay St. constitutes a public nuisance, a civil complaint contends.

Undercover officers paid women on two separate occasions for a massage and to perform a sexual act on them at the spa, alleges a civil complaint.

The first incident occurred on Sept. 15 of last year and involved one woman; the second was on Jan. 19 and involved two women, contends the complaint.

The women, who were not identified, were arrested on prostitution charges, the complaint said.

In addition, none of the women could provide a valid state license permitting them to perform a massage, the complaint said.

Under the state Education Law, only a licensed person can practice massage therapy and may call themselves a "masseur," "masseuse" or "message therapist," said the complaint.

"Upon information and belief, those individuals involved in the illegal activity may still have access to the subject premises, thus the opportunity for illegal activity and the consequential negative effect on the community still exists," alleges the complaint. "Accordingly a closing order is necessary to abate this serious public nuisance."

According to the city Administrative Code, any building, including one- and two-family homes, used for prostitution as defined under the state Penal Law is considered a public nuisance.

Moreover, two or more convictions for acts of prostitution in a building during the one-year period prior to commencing a shuttering action under the Administrative Code "shall be presumptive evidence" the building is a public nuisance, the complaint maintains.

Listed as defendants are the building owner, identified in the complaint as 651 Bay Street LLC, and the massage parlor operator whose name is not yet known.

The city seeks to close the premises for a year, along with the imposition of a civil penalty of $1,000 from each defendant for each day that defendant "intentionally conducted, maintained or permitted the public nuisance."

"Given the prior violations of the law, plaintiff submits that an injunction alone will likely not be honored by those responsible for conducting, maintaining or permitting the illegal activity," wrote attorney Allen F. Schwartz of the Police Department's Legal Bureau in a court filing. "Thus, an order closing the subject premises against all use during the pendency of this action is the best assurance that this public nuisance will be abated."

Public records show 651 Bay Street LLC was incorporated in Brooklyn in May of last year. There is no registered agent on file with the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations.

There is no telephone listing for the company; however, public records show a law office at the Brooklyn address denoted on the corporate filings.

A phone message left there was not immediately returned.

On Friday, the massage parlor was closed.

Taped to the door were a copy of the civil lawsuit and a restraining order from the NYPD warning that "removal of property from these premises is prohibited." The restraining order also warned against "prostitution" and "unlicensed massage."

Over the years, authorities have periodically shut down "spas" on Staten Island which they alleged served as fronts for prostitution businesses.

In a major crackdown in the summer of 2015, six "sex for sale" shops were shut down in Dongan Hills, Graniteville, Great Kills, Port Richmond and Tottenville, according to Advance reports.