Payback for Nyack Motor Lodge: $10K for allowing prostitution

NEW CITY - Money that authorities say came from turning a blind eye to drugs and prostitution at a local motel will instead be used to help victims of those crimes.

Rockland County authorities on Thursday morning turned over a $10,000 check from the owners of the Nyack Motor Lodge to the Center for Safety and Change to go toward the center's program for survivors of human trafficking.

Owners of the two-story motel on Route 303 across from the Palisades Center, which had been targeted in 2017 a magnet for illicit activity, agreed to hand over the check in lieu of a civil penalty under the county's public nuisance law.

ROCKLAND: Inside the prostitution crackdown

WEST NYACK: Motel targeted for prostitution, drug activity

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: Rockland's hidden secret

Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe and County Attorney Thomas Humbach used the nuisance law to force Tappan Zee LLC into agreeing to make the payment as well as promising significant upgrades to staff training and security.

"It was a hot spot for all kinds of criminal activity ... many of which were tied to human trafficking," said Zugibe at Thursday's press conference at the center. He noted that numerous arrests at the motel didn't slow down the illegal activity.

"We went after the people who were facilitating the crime," said Zugibe, who is running for state Supreme Court justice. "We weren't accusing the owners of participating in it or committing any of the crimes themselves but facilitating it, all because they wanted to increase their profits."

The motel's owners didn't respond to a request to attend the press conference, according to the Rockland County Executive's Office. Their attorney, Frank Phillips, was travelling this week and unavailable for comment.

The $10,000 settlement mirrored one reached with the Days Inn in Nanuet, which was targeted for similar reasons under the same civil laws. That motel has already instituted changes in security and policies.

Humbach and Zugibe said since they began using civil penalties rather than criminal prosecution, complaints to the Clarkstown police had virtually dried up at both motels.

Clarkstown Police Chief Raymond McCullagh said the efforts by the department's Street Crimes Unit working in conjunction with Zugibe's office had led to a dramatic decrease in reported crimes in the motels in his jurisdiction.

Amy Siniscalchi, executive director of the Center for Safety and Change, called prostitution and related offenses "crimes of opportunity" that flourish in an environment that allows them to happen.

Siniscalchi said the crackdown "sends a message that these crimes will not be tolerated here."

Humbach said the $10,000 penalty "has inspired (the motel's owners) to enter into a redevelopment deal that I understand to be be in the high six figures or seven figures."

The county attorney said he'd be keeping a close eye on the motel's promised security improvements.

"If there's an uptick (in reported crime), the next time it won't be so easy for them," Humbach said.

County officials said they would monitor other potential locations in case the crimes that were occurring at the Days Inn and Nyack Motor Lodge migrated to elsewhere in Rockland.

"If the people out there know the type of crimes that we can do something about — prostitution, drugs and gambling — let us know. If we don't know, we can't go out there and get them," he said.

Twitter: @Bee_Bob