Getting Inked

It's very easy to find lots of guides on the Internet to choosing a tattooist. Hygienic blah blah friendly blah blah make sure you etc etc. Thing is, I'm lazy, and I don't want to go around dozens of tattoo parlors trying to work out which one is the best. I want Gothamist to do that for me! Or, failing that, just tell me which places have the best reputation. What is the cleanest, most fabulous place to get inked in New York?

FS, Manhattan

Not having a tattoo (Our moms would kill us!) Ask Gothamist turned to our friend Laren who not too long ago got herself inked. Her advice:

Before I got my tattoo, I went to about a dozen different places, primarily in the East Village. I'd go in, ask a litany of stupid questions about hygiene and design, take a look around the shop, and move on. The thing about tattoo parlors is that they very often display their art on the walls, and although this makes sense from a marketing perspective, from the perspective of someone looking for a super-clean, super-hygienic parlor, it always made the places seem cluttered and sort of dirty. They all felt this way to varying degrees, until I walked into Inkline. Stark, white, clean, simple. Anil Gupta is their primary artist, and he's amazing, but since I was walking in with a design, I saved some money by working with an apprentice. I showed him where I wanted it, and he suggested several reasons why I might want to adjust the placement somewhat. He even let someone hold my hand and distract me the entire time. I highly recommend them.

Thanks, Laren. No need to tell the world where the tattoo is or how exactly the apprentice suggested different placement. FYI, Anil's site features some pretty impressive artwork and testimonials from celebrities including Jenna Jameson, Rosie O'Donnell and Christian Slater (pictured).

One word of advice. If you are the type of person who doesn't wear the same shirt twice, has an entire closet devoted to shoes, has had more hairstyles than Jennifer Anniston and changes over your entire wardrobe after each Barney's Warehouse Sale, you might want to think twice about getting a tattoo. Laser removal surgery can be expensive.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Doug Gordon in Miscellaneous on May 25, 2004 10:29 AM

Comments [rss]

fire

I just got a tattoo at addiction for 300 dollers that took the guy jason an hour to draw from just an idea i had and he is one of the best tattoo artists i have ever seen, the work he did was amazing, it took 4 hours and is triple the size and detail i got quoted for one at ambrotos in dc for 350, it is a great place dont let that experiance make u not give it a look at.

Vlad

so i went to get quoted on a tattoo i wanted to get done. i went to a place called "addiction" on st. marks in new york. at first, a guy named Agent, quoted me at $400 just for the outline, after talking to me for a bit and realizing that i'm not a retard, he lowered the price to $300 and agreed to fix up my other tattoos. i left a $50 deposit and scheduled for fri(this all happened on mon). the next day i ran into a girl and told her about what i wanted to get done and how much i was gonna pay for it. she told me that i'd get it much cheaper at another place called "sacred tattoos." so i went there after work and they quoted me at $250 for the outline, including fixing up my shit AND under the agreement that if it the outline got done in under 3 hours we'd start filling it in for the same price. hearing this, i immediately went back to "addiction" (this is tues now) and told them that i found a much cheaper place. i asked in the most chillest way if they would consider giving me my deposit back. the guy, agent, was the biggest f'in asshole i've ever encountered with this type of thing. he basically said that there's no way i'm getting my money back, called me an asshole and said, quote "whatever man, fifty bucks won't break the bank." i mean, understandably, a deposit is a deposit, but i specifically came the next day, 4 days before i was supposed to get ink done, he didn't even start drawing up my shit (which i actually brought a picture of, so all he had to do was trace it), not only this, but the motherfucker quoted me at almost double the price of the other place, which i have to say is about ten times more prestigious than this pisshole addiction. anyways, take my experience for what it's worth, don't go to addiction or get work done by anyone named agent, the guy's a jerkoff and he'll mess your ink up and overcharge you for it. hope people heed

George

Just got back from Inkline studio - WOW anil might be the most amayzing artist I have ever seen and I have been researching artist for a year before I landed with Anil.

The $50 consult fee was worth every penny , this man is a true artist.

garth

For what it's worth, when my dad turned 60 he decided he really wanted to get a tatoo. He checked out a bunch of parlors and eventually went to Inkline as well. He had a vauge idea of something nordic around his ankle and had brought a few printouts of things he found on the internet. Anil drew, freehand, a 3-d nordic relief on his ankle that somehow captured everything that my dad wanted. While my mother doesn't really like to acknowledge the stone ships protruding out of his ankle, my father couldn't be happier.

Jessica

I have to say, I went to go talk to Anil, but was immediately turned off. He wanted a 50$ consulting fee (non-refundable) just to TALK about what the tattoo would be and wouldn't quote me a price on the tattoo unless I agreed to this. I went to Eric at Ink Stop Tattoo on Ave A., and he did an amazing job without all the pretense.

a

Laren's right, Anil Gupta is the best. Worth every penny.

min

I also recommend New York Adorned. Very professional, very clean, excellent work with a wide variety of artists. I got a tattoo there from Chris O'Donnell--it's gorgeous work. My friend got one from Steph Tamez and she is great as well. They also allow you to bring a friend along.