Verrazano Redux

Just the other day, I posted a cool graffiti-style tattoo of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge, which connects Brooklyn to Staten Island.

While on the bike on Sunday, I spotted another amazing bridge tattoo. How amazing? Another Tattoosday first: I pulled up along side the owner of the piece while he was riding his bike and he pulled over to tell me about it.

This tattoo, which is a colorful depiction of the V-N Bridge during a sunset, was inked by Joe at Brooklyn Ink. The piece belongs to Paul, who knows, whenever he sees the bridge, he is close to home. One could say, then, that by wearing it on his left shoulder, the bridge is always close
to him, even when he is out of town.

We talked about the beauty of the stretch of shoreline which runs along the south of Brooklyn. Paul and I have a lot in common in that we love to take pictures of the bridge. In fact, check out these shots I took in January 2007 which are here on BillyBlog. The sunset always seems to be spectacular with the Verrazano in the foreground.

Paul has several other tattoos, one of which is slated for a future, more fitting, post in the next few weeks.

Thanks to Paul for sharing this tattoo with us!

As always, you can see work from Brooklyn Ink that has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Michael's Taurus Tattoo

I ran into Michael at Borders in Penn Plaza. He has five tattoos, including a large koi sleeve on his right arm. He offered up the bull tattoo above on his left arm.

The piece was inked at Mike's Tattoo in Peterborough, Ontario, north of the border in Canada.

Michael is a Taurus, and this bull tattoo represents the astrological sign in the Zodiac. I have featured a Taurus tattoo before in the blog here.

Michael is an artist and traded one of his prints to the tattooist, in exchange for this piece on his left forearm. Check out Michael's website here to see his art. It's pretty amazing.

Thanks to Michael for sharing his tattoo here on Tattoosday!

Alexa's Blue Bird Honors Her Grandfather's Memory

I met Alexa on the southeast corner of 34th Street and 7th Avenue last Tuesday and may have saved her from a little bit of parental grief.

I asked her about the sparrow below her neck and she was happy to tell me about it, especially since I reminded her about it. She was waiting to meet her father, who doesn't know she's inked, and she covered up after I snapped the picture.


Alexa got this tattoo on the first anniversary of her grandfather's passing. All that it symbolizes to her, the color blue, the freedom from the earth, true love - all of these combine to empower the symbol she finds as especially fitting for the memory of her grandfather.

The sparrow was designed by a friend of hers. She took the drawing to Crazy Fantasy Tattoo in the West Village where the artist colored the design and inked it.

Thanks to Alexa for sharing her sparrow with us on Tattoosday!