Best NYC Ink

Looking for the BEST shop in NYC. Had some work done, but it was in L.A. If anyone can give some good refs and specialties, that would be much appreciated. Thanks.

oh, word?

Hey Krystof...whatever happened to johnny shaw at fun city...haven't talked to him in years ..did he drop off the face of the earth or is he livin on a mountain top in Tibet with cat stevens or what?...Anybody know?...T

I couldn't tell you, I heard he retired, but rumors are just that, rumors. There are so many different shops in NYC that have incredible artists, you really have to kinda take the time to check them out yourself and check out the portfolios and see who's work goes along with the style you're interested in.

Steve Boltz is a great tattoo artist and fellah. He works at Triple X in the heart of it all. Troy Denning and his crew are incredible at Invisible NYC. New York Adorned is a great studio to check out. there are others and tons of amazing fellahs in a 2 hour drive. What type of tattoo are you thinking about?

john shaw is in brazil, i think. he did work for me in '93. i had to meet him at a restaurant after calling him on a payphone, and only THEN did i find out where the damn studio was. Illegal back then ya know. NEW YORK ADORNED is the best!!! Chris O'Donnell, and KAZ (who is doing my tat next month)

YEAH!!! LOL! workin in the Apple in those days was a TRIP! But hey if ya happen to hear from that old bandit tell him I said hey and to e mail me... I'm on the run from Erlich who is threateninme with an Irish Hickey! So say a prayer for me! TAz

Steve Boltz will be working at daredeviltattoo.com in April...

I would like to add anil Gupta to the list for new york.I am seeing alot of people going towards oriental artwork and i agree it is very nice.But you have to admit anil is up there.Depending on what you are looking for.Portrait stuff there are not to many that can match him.Thats just my oppinion.

Anil Gupta is an amazing artist. The receptionist was a bit snooty when we called so sometimes he doent come to mind first. But the artwork speaks for itself, he is amazing. Paul Booth's studio also obviously has some amazing talent...

Anil is a versatile artist,and does some amazing stuff..i wen't to his shop last year wanting to get a portrait done,and his apprentice said he charges 250.00 an hr,and it would be about 1,500 for the portrait..I don't know how anyone can afford to pay that much..He must be tattooing some rich people..i've been to all the shop's in the city,and i wouldn't limit myself to a few shop's..I got some script done by Regino,and he is an excellent tattooer,and versatile as well..his site is www.regnyc.com and marcoserio.com works with him..www.scottcampbelltattoo.com flyritetattoo.net www.horrortown666.com are good shop's in Brooklyn..www.funcitytattoo.com has alot of talented artists.. rodrigomelo.com is really good..www.senaspace.com is talented.. purebodyarts.com www.porcupinetattoo.com And Designs By MichaelAngelo@ 6217,16th ave.in Brooklyn has been tattooing since 1976..i got a koi fish from Mike,like 7yrs ago,and he does really solid work..He opens at 4pm,and it's first come first serve..He is closed on tue,and friday..I would get there around 2:30 if you wan't to be one of the first to get tattooed..His # is 718.331-1411 From Manhattan take N to New Utrecht,and walk up 2 blocks..

Hey Joe...yeah I've met Anil Gupta...he seemed to e a very humble soft spoken guy and of course does amazing work, but you're right those prices are insanely high! Sorry Anil but there are a lot of youngsters comin up IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD that will be givin you a run for your money!!! I have a lot of respect for Mr. Gupta but Damn!...You can take the reputation and price thing too far!! Some of you older cats came into the art just about the time it was exploding (the Jon Bon Jovi/MTV tattoo "revolution") Well times are a changin old hoss! There are not only scads of streeet corner scratchers out there there are also some seriously hungry,seriously talented youngsteres out there that , like it or not, you are going to have to compete with.A lot of us old fuckers have had to rethink our whole angle on business and eat a slice of that oh so bitter humble pie! Remember what happened to the dinosaurs?..It may have taken them a long, long time to die off but die off they did!!! I think its time a lot of us start thinkin about the art and our future in it instead of laughin as we take our cash home at night in a wheelbarrow!! Some of us are gonna get mugged!!! I don't know about you, but this cat ain't gonna be nobodys' dinosaur!!....TAz

One more thing that I consider VERY important...If you are treated snobbisly by ANYONE at ANY business...first...COMPLAIN to the powers that be...they may not know their employees are treating their customers badly...If you get no satisfaction there I urge you to take your business elsewhere!!!... As a long time shop owner I know I would want to be informed if my people were in any way lacking in the manner in which my valued customers were being treated.As a customer YOU are financing that business and , as such, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. PERIOD!!! Unless of course You have an attitude then,,,F*ck ya!!!!!...TAz

hey taz, i agree with you to a point. i had the honor of working with anil for about a year and the only thing i think you need to take into account when talking about anil's prices, is that the meticulous detail of his work justify the cost. if you had a band, you could hire a very talented artist to do you cd cover, or you could hire giger. the fact that despite his crazy prices, he's booked for many months means people will pay for quality. ther are a bunch of talented newcommers out there, but if they're going to compete with gupta, they better start working real hard.

Gabe, i cannot believe that you failed to mention ME, Alex Sherker, a TattooNOW member AND a personal friend of yours, who is alive and well at tattooing at Fineline Tattoo in NYC. Fineline Tattoo is the oldest shop in Manhattan, and Mike Bakaty (my boss) has been tattooing in NYC for 30 years. We're awesome, and we're the real deal - a piece of NYC history; we have no snooty desk people, no shitty rockstar attitudes, you dont have to make an appointment just to pay money to have a consultation, we do not charge exhorbitant hourly fees, we're cool guys, and we do good clean tight tattoos. Gabe, i'm seriously a little shocked....

Very sorry Alex! Of course Fineline is a great place to get a tattoo, and you are a great guy to get an authentic old school tattoo from! Im 100% positive that there are 2-5 other NYC artists who think Im a jack-ass for not mentioning them either but I literally spend like 5 seconds responding to these forum posts ACK! I did completely forgot to mention Anil and Paul Booth's studio too... When you coming back north? and hey! you ignored my last email (sent about a week ago)!

thanks for all the input guys. I really appreciate it. I have rounded down my desing(s) and was wondering if you could maybe now help suggest the best fineline/lettering artists in NYC.. thanks in advance!!!

Hey Myke maldonado!...ITS me TAz ...haven't seen you for a long long time...Anyway about Anil...I agree that he is one of if not the best artist out there he is amazing and I hope I did not come off like I did not think he was worth it...thats was not my point man...hell no!! If I had any skin left he is who I would go to...I was just sayin that some of these youngsters are tearin things up and creating MASTERPIECES!! They are fuckin amazing!!! So how you been Myke?...TAz

steve [email removed] is good with script.. regnyc.com did some nice script on me last year.. Danielle& [email removed]