Asian eatery set to take over space on Broadway with a tawdry past

A property near the end of the Broadway No. 1 subway line with a history of violations and complaints might become home to a new Asian restaurant, but local residents are not ready to roll out the welcome mat just yet. 

In September, Asian Tokyo, a restaurant slated to open next year, applied for a liquor license, which would allow the establishment to sell wine and beer at 4685 Manhattan College Parkway, which actually sits on Post Road behind a Burger King outlet. The property is the former home of the now defunct bar, The Lounge, and New Healing Touch. 

Representatives from Asian Tokyo were absent at Community Board (CB) 8’s Public Safety Committee meeting on Oct. 6, at which their application was to be reviewed by the board, but Feifei Tang, who is listed on the application as the eatery’s president, told The Press that the restaurant would occupy the first floor of the property and serve pan-Asian cuisine.  

“It’s going to be Asian food — Japanese, and Chinese and maybe a little Thai food,” said Ms. Tang, 28, in a telephone interview. A Queens resident, Ms. Tang said that she and her sushi chef husband are renting the space from Mitchell Mekles, a Fort Lee, New Jersey, resident. 

Ms. Tang said that Asian Tokyo is slated to open officially in January of next year with weekday hours from about 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and an hour later on the weekends. The space, which would seat about 30 guests and offer takeout delivery, has not been renovated yet, she said, because the Department of Buildings has not yet issued a construction permit. 

The location still bears a white and orange sign with The Lounge’s imprint above it along with “Tan Here.” The blue and white canopy is also the last remnant of the shuttered and troubled massage parlor, New Healing Touch, on the ground level of the two-story property. 

For many nearby residents, the signs are reminders of past unlawful activities and public disturbances at the site.  

In May 2012, Healing Touch was closed by court order after undercover cops from the NYPD’s Bronx Vice Squad busted employees for what they alleged to be prostitution.