What does your tattoo say about you?
‘I’m a Muay Thai fighter, and each star represents a match I’ve been in’
From Hunter in the Upper East Side to NYU in the Village, the city that only sleeps between 4 and 5 am is one of a handful in the world marked by a distinct number of tattooed residents.
As summer falls and winter rears its snowy head, these expressive New Yorkers are starting to cover up the inky works of art they proudly displayed for the world to admire and revile over the past summer.
We look back to when we asked the cool cats of Williamsburg what their tattoos said about them.
Charlotte, 25, fashion designer
“They’re all my family members and my pets so I’ll never get sick of them.”
“The square is my family because there’s four of us.”
“This is my fiancée’s name.”
“This is my cat who passed away recently.”
Monroe, 32, lawyer
“I’m half Mexican, so I have a half part of my body that represents that heritage. The other half is very colorful and German.”
Dennis, 31, video producer
“Dennis the menace, it’s just that I’m a menace, causing lots of trouble. And these are my initials.”
Apollo, 25, skateboarder for Nike
“I got this elephant tattoo because I’m not afraid of any lions, and I don’t fuck with rats.”
Austin, 30, cheese shop worker
“I’m from South Carolina and I moved to New York.”
Raz, 43, withheld
“Life experience.”
Grace, 20, withheld
“Fuck the world.”
Seth, 34, artist and teacher
“They’re all traditional Japanese tattoos. I’ve known the guy who did them since I was in high school. I started with him when I was a kid, helped build his portfolio. I started with him when tattooing was illegal in New York.
“He has his own tattoo shop in Arizona, Sun City Tattoo. I go to Lotus tattoo in Long Island because that’s where he works when he comes back to the East Coast.”
Tomo, 40, from Japan, withheld
“I asked the artist to design a dragon with a lotus flower. This one means my name – it has two moons.”
Haley, 30, educator/student
“My friend passed away so I got it in honor of her.”
Shiyin, 21, visiting from Singapore
“I’m a Muay Thai fighter, and each star represents a match I’ve been in.”
Rosemary, 36, marina manager
“The girl on the back was the nose art on my great-uncle’s plane in World War II. He was shot down over Hungary, came back and was a cop in New York in the 70s. He went back to Hungary and found the plane and took photos with it.”
“My parents passed away and my older brother adopted me.”