TROUBLED NANUET MOTEL TO BE PADLOCKED

Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe, joined by Rockland County Attorney Thomas E. Humbach, today filed an action to shut down and fine a notorious Nanuet motel that has served as a haven for illegal drug dealing, prostitution and other criminal behavior.

District Attorney Zugibe identified the establishment as the Days Inn, a 70‐room motel located at 367 West Route 59, Nanuet, New York.

District Attorney Zugibe said, “This Days Inn was run not as a motel, but rather as an unabashed drug superstore and brothel, catering to kingpins and street‐level dealers, pimps and prostitutes. Trafficking in drugs and prostitution are crimes against the community, and we must fight them as a community.

My office welcomed the opportunity to assist County Attorney Humbach in shuttering the Days Inn and to be a part of an inter‐agency team that uses its regulatory powers to rid our neighborhoods of dangerous establishments.”

County Attorney Humbach said, “Working in partnership with District Attorney Zugibe, we have filed this Complaint and will immediately seek a restraining order to padlock the motel until steps are taken to clean up the crime‐riddled facility, which is a known blight on our County. We are committed to

working with law enforcement and the community in eliminating illicit behavior and unsavory business practices that promote criminal activity. Today, we issue a clear message: businesses that allow drug dealing and other illegal activity to occur on their premises are at risk of being shut down forever.”

In November 2015, District Attorney Zugibe filed criminal charges against 31 individuals, including a Spring Valley man serving lifetime parole for attempted murder and other career criminals, following a five‐month investigation into a large‐scale narcotics trafficking operation located in a guest room at

the Days Inn.

The defendants ‐ who ranged in age from 23 to 61 ‐ were charged with selling crack and powdered cocaine and heroin to customers in and around Rockland County. According to the charges, members and associates of the organization conspired to distribute more than $500,000 in illegal drugs each year.

Since then, the Rockland County Drug Task Force, along with local police agencies have made several additional drug‐related arrests at the troubled motor lodge. As alleged in the Complaint, the Days Inn has been the scene of 26 arrests for prostitution, narcotics and related crimes in the past 12 months.

As a result, District Attorney Zugibe has requested that the County Attorney’s Office apply the County’s Public Nuisance Law in an effort to put an end to the problems. The law permits the County, with permission from a court, to close the motel until there is reason to believe that the illegal activity will not continue. The law also permits the County to seek fines of up to $1,000 per day while violations occur.

County Attorney Humbach has successfully applied this law on several occasions since 2015, shutting down four massage parlors that acted as fronts for prostitution. Humbach has obtained judgments for fines against the operators that exceed $800,000.

Said Humbach, “Illegal activity at this motel has eroded the neighborhood’s quality of life and created an atmosphere in which even more serious crimes could be committed. This action will force motel management to clean up its act, or its business will disappear.”

District Attorney Zugibe added, “Thanks to excellent cooperation among the District Attorney, County Attorney and local law enforcement, this public nuisance will be closed, and it won’t be missed.”