[NYPOST] The former owner of a Midtown gay club was strangled to death on the Upper West Side and authorities are now looking to question his masseuse, police sources said.Savyon Zabar, 54, was discovered unconscious by two roommates in their fourth-floor apartment on West 81st street near Amsterdam Avenue about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The victim, who tips the scale at around 400 pounds, was found face up in his bed, police sources said.
Zabar was declared dead on scene, and police didn’t notice any visible trauma to the victim’s body.
But authorities later determined he sustained deep tissue hemorrhaging consistent with strangulation, police source said.
His death is now considered a homicide, police said.
Zabar owned the Latin gay nightclub Escuelita on West 39th Street, neighbors said. The club shuttered in February after 19 years in operation.
The obese victim frequently received massages, police sources said, without yet indicating whether the masseuse was a suspect.
A neighbor would often see young Latino men shuttling in and out of the victim’s West 81st Street pad.
"He always had an entourage [of] young, handsome Latinos," said Vinny de Angelis, 61, adding that Zabar has lived in the building for about 30 years.