Kareem's Tattoo is So Brooklyn....

Earlier this year, I met Kareem, one of the many inked employees at the Upper West Side Trader Joe's. I gave him my card when I spotted him in the aisles, and saw him on subsequent visits, but I generally won't trouble people while they're working.

Earlier this month, I spotted him on a break in nearby Verdi Square, and took the opportunity to snap a photo of this, one of his thirty (30!) tattoos:

I know the photo is a little small, but clicking on it will give you better detail.

It seemed appropriate, with much of the country focused on the northeast today as Hurricane Irene bears down (or is it up?) on us, that we celebrate Kareem (and my) borough.

Kareem explained:

"I came up with the idea of So Brooklyn ... I see a lot of people with a lot of just plain Brooklyn tattoos and I have yet to own a car, so I put the trains under it, as you can see, to represent my Brooklyn, and how I get around, far as the bridge and everything else. I took a lot of time to really design this tattoo and give it to my artist and it came out really well."

He credited an artist named Chia at Big Fish Tattoos in Jamaica, Queens. It should be noted that their MySpace page says that Big Fish is no longer in business.

Thanks to Kareem for sharing his So Brooklyn tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Four from Christine

I met Christine at the Trader Joe's on the Upper West Side yesterday evening and she shared these four tattoos:

Moving clockwise from the upper left in the photo above, we start with an outline of Brooklyn, in honor of the borough in which Christine was born and raised.

At the top of the other forearm is an om symbol, which captures her focus and has occasionally "helped with panic attacks."

The two butterflies on opposite arms were inked in honor of her nieces, who both love these colorful insects. The shade of each represents their favorite colors.

The Brooklyn piece was inked at Asylum Studios in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The om and the butterflies were done by artists at Three Kings Tattoo. Both shops are in Brooklyn and have had work appear on Tattoosday previously here (Asylum) and here (Three Kings).

Thanks to Christine for sharing these four of her eleven (!) tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Ride the Cyclone!

In college we had a game room at the Student Union.

I claimed to be a master at Arkanoid, but would occasionally play pinball. Earthshaker was fun, but there was another, carnival-themed game that would often beckon, "Ride the Cyclone!" It was, naturally, called The Cyclone.

Fast forward ten years and I would be residing in Brooklyn, home to Coney Island and the original Cyclone.

Despite having been in close proximity a number of times, I've never gone for a ride.

I was reminded of this back in September when I met Matt at the top of the escalator at the Penn Plaza Borders store.

He shared this amazing tattoo:

This is, of course, the Cyclone.

Matt is working on a Coney Island/"Carnie" theme, having lived in Brooklyn most of his adult life. Thus, the Astroland tower behind the Cyclone in the tattoo. Next up: the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump, other Coney Island attractions.

He sent along a photo of the tattoo when it was initially finished:

Matt credits this tattoo to Ping at Village Rock Tattoo in Manhattan.

Thanks to Matt for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!