Staten Island tattoo studio reopens after lockdown

[TATTOO STUDIO ARTIST, TRAMAINE MILES] “I’m super excited to be back at work.” After being closed for three months, business is booming again at InkStained Tattoo Studio on New York's Staten Island, as the five boroughs entered Phase 3 of reopening on Monday.

[INKSTAINED TATTOO STUDIO CLIENT, ANALIA ACEVEDO] "Oh, man, it's awesome, like I had been thinking about it for months, so the fact that, like, I got to come in on opening day was, like, awesome.” From butterflies, to portraits...customers were eager for some new personal ink.

The reopening does come with some changes though… Face masks for patrons and tattoo artists are a must, customers are now required to have their temperatures taken, and there are newly-installed curtains between tattoo chairs.

InkStained studio owner Michael Herbert says the impact of closures on small businesses were substantial: "I don't think the city realized what they did do to small business by forcing them, any business, to shut down.

This is our livelihood.

This is all we have.

A lot of these artists are independent contractors.

They work on commission, and they work solely with their customers.

It's very... it's a very hard industry to be in to begin with and be forced to shut down for four months.

It's very difficult." This was the city’s second ever reopening for tattoo parlors, the first came in 1997 when a 36-year ban on tattooing was lifted.