I moved onto Ludlow Street in 1993. I was tattooing out of a little studio apartment facing the street. I shared the space with the bar downstairs. Their giant A/C unit was in the middle of the room. I lived upstairs with my dog and a roommate in the tiniest aprtment, the tub wedged between the sink and the stove. My rent on the shop was $500. Everyone told me Ludlow was bad news, dangerous and seedy, kind of like tattooing. When tattooing was legalized In 1997 Brad and I opened Daredevil across the street from my old place. We’ve seen the neighborhood morph from the sort of area people stayed away from to one of the trendiest blocks in the city. These days there’s construction all around with high rises popping up left and right.

            I knew our days on Ludlow were numbered. For the past six years we’ve only gotten lease extensions two years at a time because our landlord was waiting to see what was going to happen with the neighborhood. I thought we would be able to squeeze out another year considering all the construction going on. The site across the street used the wrong cement so they are taking down the whole foundation to start over on building a 38 floor hotel. When my landlord called to tell me they wanted to raise the rent 50% I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. It’s funny how things work out. Now that we have a new place it’s a relief to be moving.  As stressful as it is to be spending the kind of money it takes to build a commercial space in New York City it’s so exciting to be starting over with a whole new space that’s bigger and better than anything I ever imagined we would have.

People keep asking if I’m sad to leave the old space but to me there have been so many changes around us it’s not the neighborhood we once knew. The Pink Pony is gone, Max Fish is on its way out and there are vacant stores all around. In some ways I feel like the Lower East side and tattooing have followed each other on the same path. Both used to be gritty and dangerous and now both are overrun with people that have no love or connection to the roots or history these things came from. Division street reminds me of what Ludlow was when we moved in.            

The most exciting news for the new shop is that Brad will be bringing his historical tattoo collection to be on display at Daredevil. Brad’s collection is massive. It includes a Thomas Edison engraving pen that the original electric tattoo machine patent by Samuel O’Reilly was based on. He also has an original O’Reilly sheet of tattoo flash. We love that the new space is only a few blocks from Chatham Square, which is the birthplace of modern tattooing. New York City is so important to tattooing historically we are honored to pay tribute to that history and to create a destination to share that history with others.

The other news is that we are looking for a new artist to work in the new space. This will be the first time we’ve ever publicly reached out to find an artist.  I’m a little worried about putting out a cattle call considering we already get a constant stream of artists looking for work but we are hoping to find someone really special for the new digs.

In closing, we don’t have a set date for the move but definitely by June 1st. The new space is at 141 Division Street, which is 7 blocks south of the old space at Ludlow and Canal Street. The F train stops within sight of our front door at the East Broadway stop. Our hours will continue to be noon until 10 pm seven days a week.

Got his 1st tattoo in '36, the rest in '42, in Hawaii just before shipping out. Spent WW2 with the USMC in the Pacific fighting from island to island.

One more convention down. That marks 15 years of legal tattooing in New York. I don't know why these days the years seem to speed by faster and faster. I got a little quote in the Daily News . The reporter said he wanted a "little color" for the story and asked me to share a convention story. One of my most memorable  convention weekends was the year I met Tattoo Theo. Theo's picture from 1960 is in the 1,000 Tattoos book by Hanky Panky. This was about 10 years ago that I met him. Theo was German and spoke no English what so ever. He was born in 1932,  was completely tattooed and liked getting souvenir tattoos in the tiny spots he had left. He had piercings over his chest in the shape of an anchor. When crowds started snapping pictures he was happy to drop his drawers just so everyone could see how tattooed up he was and also catch all those other piercings he had going on. For me the best part of a tattoo convention is having a place where the tattoo community comes together and we get to connect with parts of our community we may never otherwise come across. It's great to see all of our friends and I love how many friends I have made just by working conventions. I saw  Theo again the following year and he even stopped by Daredevil to say hello. I re-worked a tattoo he had on his hand that time. Theo was up to his third or fourth layer.

"What are you going to do when you get old?" is probably only second to "does it hurt?" in terms of tired tattoo questions. It sure was cool to see someone like Theo at 70 years old having a blast traveling to a country he doesn't speak the language of making friends and getting his picture taken.  I'm glad we have a community of folks that appreciates it's past and welcomes the old guys to their midst. Hopefully we'll all be having as much fun thanks to our tattoos when they're old and saggy  and hopefully people will always appreciate the stories those tattoos tell. Theo died in 2004. I'm glad I had the chance to meet him. I got the chance because of the New York City Tattoo Convention . 

Hope you caught the show and I hope you got to make some new friends or caught up with some old friends. Here's some shots from www.needlesandsins .com Flickr set

Here's the usual low down for this Friday with all the same rules and suggestions to make everything run smoothly and to get as many of you through the door as possible so everyone gets something fun to take home and show the folks.  The wait is long but we try to make things as easy as possible for everyone so you're not standing around the whole time.

 

• Daredevil will only be doing Friday the 13th tattoos. FunCity is open for business as usual.
• One tattoo per customer!  We want to tattoo as many people as we can for the day.
• Bring valid state ID (drivers license, passport) You MUST be at least 18 years old. No ID, no tattoo. NO exceptions.
• Do not block any of our neighbors doors or store fronts. Don't sit in the doorways and try not to get in anyones way. We don't want to ever have to stop this tradition so don't give anyone reason to complain about all the nice tattooed people hanging around.
• We start around 12 noon. If the doors open a little late don't freak out, we're just trying to get everything together before we let you in.
• Bring your cell phone. To keep the crowds at a minimum we will take names and phone numbers so there does not have to be a huge line down the street. Keep your cell phone in hand and don't wander too far. Feel free to check in to see where you are on the list. If you miss the call we will move on to the next person. YOU CANNOT PUT YOUR FRIENDS NAME ON THE LIST. One body= One name.
• The tattoo cost $13 + a lucky $7 tip. Bring cash and a few extra bucks. Please shop for refreshments from our neighbors while you are waiting, they appreciate the business.
• We are drawing up a sheet for the day. What you see on the sheet is what you get. No changes, no art directing and NO YOU CANNOT SEE THE SHEET BEFORE FRIDAY. It's not even done yet, relax.
• On Friday the 13th NO HANDS, NECKS, BELLIES, LOWER BACKS, CHEST, SIDES, or FEET. These places take longer to tattoo or are difficult to heal. It's a long day of tattooing for us; we try to keep it as easy on the artists as possible. Don't whine and complain about this rule! We have our reasons, trust me.
• Sometimes we decide we hate a design or are sick of doing the same one all day that people keep picking. That design might not be an option later in the day at some point. So yes we can "sell out" of certain designs. Don't be a cry baby, deal with it. There's lots of other cool tattoos to pick from.
• Expect a couple hours wait to get tattooed.
• Finally, we always appreciate nice reviews online. This day is a huge ordeal and the shop does not make money off of it so any shout outs via Yelp or other sites makes us very happy. Spread the love.

 

This is a very long day for us, when we say we're done, we're done.  We want to have fun and we want everyone getting tattooed to have fun. But at the same time this is the worst possible day to come in to the shop and get tattooed! Especially if you don't like crowds, don't like chaos and are picky.  It's a crazy day, enter and get tattooed at your own risk. We have a big crew working on Firday so we're really going to try and tattoo everyone who shows up.