Author Archives: Jaye Little

Right before my 21st birthday, I spoke to my co-worker about a new tattoo I wanted.  Her response was something along the lines of “You can go to my cousin.  He does great work… but in his basement.”  I was taken aback by this statement; tattoos in a basement?  How is everything sterile?  How is that even safe?  How am I going to get a good quality tattoo at half price?  In someone’s basement?  However, after looking into the situation a bit more, unregulated tattooing is not uncommon.  Although they may not be regulated, artists still follow the regulations put in place by New York City health department, especially considering the reputation tattoos received after a hepatitis outbreak in the 1960s.

Tattoos have become extremely popular over the years. According to American Academy of Dermatology, there was a survey conducted from people between the ages of 18 to 50 in New York City that states 24 percent of people reported of having a tattoo and 14 percent had a piercing somewhere else other than their ear lobe.  As tattoos become more popular, tattoo shops began to increase.  

However, due to a hepatitis outbreak in the 1960s, that was blamed on tattoo parlors, tattooing was illegal up until mid 1997.  Nonetheless, even with the legalization of tattooing, people are still weary of them.  Tattoos tend to be viewed as “taboo,” with many stereotypes attached; however, tattoos parlors are just like any other store. There are rules and regulations that everyone must follow. Equipment and experience are necessary in order to be successful.

According to Health.NY.gov, tattoo artists and piercers need to obtain a permit. For health regulations, they must wash their hands, use clean gloves, use single-use razors, single-use sterilized needles, bandage the skin and provide aftercare instructions. Piercings have the same requirements, with the addition of using sterilized clamps, receiving tubes and body jewelry.

Due to the risks of infections and diseases, tattoo parlors can sometimes get a bad rap, which is why Tazz, who owns Atzlan Tattoos in Sunset Park, believes these regulations are necessary.

“It can be a major pain sometimes, but this is to ensure the happiness of the customer and the livelihood of my store,” he said.

However, he said, even with the best precautions, infections sometimes still occur.

“I’ve had a lot of unhappy customers come in here with an infection,” he said. “Some of them even threaten a lawsuit. But most of the time it’s because they didn’t take care of it properly.”

As part of the health code regulations, all shops are required to provide aftercare instructions.  They offer all the necessary supplies for sale in the shop.

“I have sea salt solutions for piercings and A & D ointments for tattoos,” Tazz said. “If someone comes in with an infection, nine times out of 10, they didn’t follow instructions.  Even if for some reason it was my fault, the creams and solutions will help clear up, or stop, any infections from occurring.”

Although there are hundreds shops all around New York City, every shop has its own story, and every owner has his or her own reasons for opening it.

DeAngel, who owns Scars of Desire in Sunset Park, decided to open his shop after tattooing illegally for several years.  He enjoyed having his artwork on “live canvases.”

Scars of Desire from Jaye Little on Vimeo.

Nonetheless, most negative stories come from those who tattoo outside of shops, with or without a license. This mainly occurs for tattoo parties, however, some artists do prefer to work in their own personal environment.  Leo tattoos in his basement. 

“I absolutely love tattooing and I feel like I am doing something good for people,” he said. “There’s nothing like watching their faces the first time they see their completed tattoo.  Their pain was worth it.”

Leo used to work for a shop, but he ended up on his own after having a disagreement with his employer.

“I felt that he was charging some customers too much and not giving them quality work,” he said. “We didn’t see eye to eye.  He was all about the money, I was about the passion.”

Tattoos can be extremely expensive.  There are several things taken into consideration: size, colors, intricate details, the amount of time and the placement.  For example, places that have more muscle, such as one’s calf would be slightly more expensive than a tight piece, due to the amount of time and ink that would be needed to protrude correctly.  Also, pieces that follow an awkward pattern, for example, a spiral of some sort, would also be more expensive due to the artist needing successful create this pattern on one’s skin.

Though Leo does not own his own shop and is not looking to own one right now, he still follows all the health regulations.

“Whenever people ask me to do their tattoos and I tell them to come to my basement, I always get a weird look. But I can assure you, I follow all the health code procedures.  I probably follow them more than legal stores.  Not only is this my personal artwork, that I am proud to show off, this is also my means of support.  I wouldn’t want to risk it,” he said.

To be completely honest, I am having a tremendously hard time determining what I want to do my video on.  My beat for this classes has been businesses, mainly focusing on those who have created their own businesses.  My first assignment focused on an immigrant who followed her dream in creating a daycare.  The second assignment focused on a man who created his own print shop.  I currently know someone who is opening up a London-based franchise, that I would love to focus on.  I think it would make an interesting story.  However, I wouldn’t have a clue on how to go about it or what the video should include.  There’s so many angles that I could do this from, such as watching him create the actual store or focusing completely on the business aspect, or something completely different.  Nonetheless, I am not too sure how well that source will pan out; therefore, I might have to find a completely new idea.

My topic has been mainly focusing on businesses and people creating their own.  I think for my podcast I can focus more specifically on the process.  What the owner needs to do, what they are required to have, how they obtain rights for certain franchises.  Depending on how long the podcast can be, I might be able to do a compare and contrast segment.  Comparing the differences between certain franchises and what they do that is different.

I was having a hard time making a decision on what I should create my photo essay about.  I know for my beat I had two interests, but I wasn’t sure how to turn those into a successful photo essay.  I really like my second option about co-branding but I figured I was going about that the wrong way.  Instead, I think I am going to focus on people who create their own businesses, whether it’s from a corporation or on their own.  This way, I can still focus on business, and include the co-branding, but I think it will be easier to focus on, as well write about.

For my photo essay, I would like to focus on Maria’s Daycare.  This daycare is about to celebrate their 20th year anniversary.  This is a daycare for low income families.  It was opened from a woman who immigrated here from Puerto Rico.  I was hoping to get her point of view and show how hard she’s worked to be where she is today.

There are two topics that I am interested in.  The first being music.  Ever since I was a kid, I lived and breathed music; I was always the girl that you would find with the headphones in and blaring.  However, I am not too sure how I would go about reporting on this subject.  One of my girlfriends interns at a PR firm, and has access to artists, but they are mainly new talent.  This could be an option, in that I would help them put their name out there and help them gain more fame and recognition.

The second topic that I am interested in is restaurants, more specifically co-branding.  I am the manager of a Quiznos that was recently bought out.  The new owner is planning on creating a co-brand with a London based shop called Shake Away to compliment Quiznos.  This is a new and interesting aspect to business.  This would be a lot easier for me to focus on because I know several store owners who have bought out failing businesses and are looking for ways to boost sales.  I can also speak to various corporate representatives to see and understand their view on the subject.  There’s the new owner as well as his brothers, who have done their own versions of co-branding but in the different countries.  This would work for international stories as well as local stories.  It would also give me various opportunities to compare and contrast different stores and locations.

Although the second option seems the easiest, music has always been my passion.  I think I would have more fun and be able to create more interesting products if I focused more on the music aspect rather than business.