"It would be so irresponsible to use people’s bodies as an experiment," says Vanessa Monday who works at the private studio, Haven in Bushwick. Most agree there is no reason to rush reopening. “The issue is more that there's not a lot of firsthand knowledge, they assume the safety standards of hair stylists will apply to tattoo artists and they don’t necessarily understand the nuances of the industry.” And during the pandemic, she has found herself “cobbling together information” about the path for reopening, “without much guidance” from city officials. In her free time, Tamara Santibañez, who works at Saved in Williamsburg, hosts community-focused workshops on the physical and emotional labor particular to the job. Tattoo shops have only been legal in New York City since 1997, and business owners say they hope unfair lingering stigmas surrounding the industry don’t factor into how the government allows them to reopen. Similarly, many tattoo artists that we contacted for this piece reported a surprising increase in requests right now (despite the fact that they can’t act on them), be it due to emotional-related reckonings exacerbated by the current climate or simply boredom. It’s been recorded that when times are tough financially, bars tend to continue to do well. They’ll also get rid of waiting areas and you won’t be able to bring a friend or significant other as a tag along. But now, with concern about airborne-contact, people like Todd “Woodz” Woodard from Magic Cobra Tattoo Society, say they’ll also be adding plexiglass in between tables, limit the number of artists working at a time and making sure everyone involved wears masks and washes their hands. We are experts in cross contamination and have been wearing gloves and face masks for years!” shares Matty "No Times" Marcus of Three Kings Tattoo. “ Funny enough, besides medical workers, we were probably the most prepared industry for something like this. Licensed tattoo artists, not unlike restaurant workers, are held to high health standards that they already follow and they especially know how to deal with blood-borne pathogens. For now, he thinks that feature used by many of his walk-ins (many of which are tourists) will be a thing of that past. Josh Agnew of Electric Anvil Tattoo in Crown Heights says that walk-ins accounted for “a huge part of his business.” His tattoo shop has a “you get what you get machine”-essentially a randomized gumball machine filled with different tattoo designs that customers get without knowing in advance. Perhaps that means an end to the drunken tattoo mistakes some customers make on a whim? And while they may be some of the last to be granted the green light to reopen again, many tattoo artists and studios are already thinking about the best ways to operate in a safe manner.Īlmost a dozen tattooers all told Time Out New York that studios that formerly encouraged walk-ins would be moving to an appointment-only policy-at least until there's a vaccine. New York City’s tattoo shops are not considered to be essential businesses, which means that all parlors are currently closed.
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