10 Years Of Legal Tattooing
Wow, 10 years of legal tattooing in NYC! Time flies when you're having fun. The New York tattoo scene has come a long way in the last 10 years. Before the ban was lifted we were kind of out of the loop in the tattoo world. 10 years ago we came out of a tattooing dark ages that lasted 30+ years. Now here we are and we have one of the best conventions in the country, tons of talent all around and I think the tightest tattoo community you can find. Of course I'm biased. Yet something about the city, maybe the close quarters, maybe the grit and grime, the energy, the history really makes the tattoo scene here unique. This past weekend we all got to toast 10 years well spent taking back our spot in the global tattoo scene. A big thanks to the guys who run the show at Roseland, (Bonge, Butch, Clayton) who give us all a chance to get together once a year, hang out and have something to look forward to the next time around.
This year we were honored to have Stanley Moskowitz working at our booth with us. Getting to spend time with Stanley, a true living legend and Bowery Boy was really special. To get to work next to a direct link to the origins of modern tattooing and our NYC history that all started on the Bowery 100 years ago was an amazing opportunity.
In Mike McCabe's "New York City Tattoo - The Oral History of an Urban Art" Mike writes, "Stanley and Walter Moskowitz were the last people to tattoo in Chatham Square on the historic Bowery in New York City. They learned the trade from their father Willie who had learned from Charlie Wagner in the 1940's. The Moskowitz Brothers are known affectionately in the tattoo community as "The Bowery Boys" and represent one of the last links to New York's tattoo heritage...."
The group picture has Timmy tats in the background working away, left to right Peggy Punch, Stanley Moskowitz, me, Bill Salmon, Crazy Philidelphia Eddy and Steve Von Riepen. Me Jason and SVR all got tattooed from Stanley check out our souvenirs from the weekend.