Da Vinci Tattoo and Body Piercing is now open on the corner of East 19th Street and Gravesend Neck Road. From the signs in the window, it looks like they’re offering 30 percent off for their grand opening. So if you’ve been waiting for the recession to hit the ink industry before getting that “Mr. Cool Ice” tattoo, wait no longer.

Looks like there’s some new competition for Sheepshead Bay staple Vinnie’s and last year’s newcomer Kastattoo. The gas-station-turned-shopping-plaza on Harkness Avenue and Knapp Street is filling up its real estate vacancies. The latest entry is Inkheart, a tattoo and piercing shop. Given the other business occupying the corner, one can have a helluva night on that little corner. Get drunk, have a sandwich, get a tattoo and then cry about it all when you sober up with some coffee… all before the catching the latest 3-D movie around the corner! Any guesses as to what will fill the final spot? My guess is an OTB outlet; though a headshop would be nice.

Carlo Fodera, a.k.a. Coney Island Carlo, is taking tattooing global in a new reality television show, Tattoo Masters Worldwide.

“Over the last couple of years I’ve been watching these reality shows on tattooing,” Fodera said in a trailer for the series. “There’s so much more to the tattoo world. There’s so many different venues, and so many different types of tattooing.”

From a new Gravesend location at 66 Avenue U, Fodera is launching a competition to showcase the explosive dynamism of contemporary tattooing. The new storefront is next door to one of his existing parlors, Studio Enigma. Fodera owns 10 shops in the five boroughs, and according to the website is responsible for about half the tattooing done daily in New York City. Continue Reading »