Crystal Spa

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Although it might look like that kind of massage parlor from the outside, the happy endings at this rubdown-refuge on the second floor of a rundown East 56th Street office building are PG-rated. The mostly male Midtown clientele must take off their shoes to enter the spare, white-walled, wood-floored space; customers are then ushered behind batik curtains into simple, semi-enclosed stalls containing basic massage tables. Deep tissue work is the specialty of the house, and the staff of all-Chinese masseurs can knead the knots and kinks out of the tensest of muscles. They also excel at Shiatsu, four hands, and back walk massages; female fans tend to request prenatal and hot stone bodywork. Crystal Spa also offers facials, reflexology, depilatory services, and nail treatments, and stays open late—until 11 p.m. every day—to accommodate the overworked. Best of all, rates are so reasonable that even the average wage-earner can afford to visit often. — Eve Gerber