The Brooklyn Ink

The Arborist: How One Man Makes Trees Disappear

When was the last time you saw something 75 years old get destroyed? Click “play” below and click through the slideshow to see how Prospect Park Head of Arboriculture Luis Lemus does it.  

Crown Heights March to End Gun Violence

Residents of Crown Heights walked together on Thursday evening in a peace march to end gun violence, but also to call attention to increased safety in the neighborhood in recent years. Approximately 70 marchers congregated [...]

Dragonfly and Russell

Many of Dragonfly’s tattoos, including the ones on her face, were done using the “ta moko” hand tapping method. The skin is pierced with a small tool before inserting the ink. Dragonfly, 39, had already [...]

Tristan Fitch

Tristan Fitch, 40, was flipping through an archeology book when he came across an image that spoke to him and he knew instantly that he wanted it tattooed on him. Something “clicked” when he saw [...]

In Bushwick, a Darkroom Develops

In the basement of a modern apartment building set among Bushwick’s industrial buildings and new restaurants, there’s a row of nondescript storage units. Lucia Rollow, a recent college graduate, recently purchased one, but she’s not storing winter clothes or old yearbooks in there. Inside her unit she’s set up the Bushwick Community Darkroom.

JC Ortiz

For half the year JC Ortiz, 29, works on a fishing boat in Alaska. He spends the other half in Williamsburg, playing the banjo in his band, The Keeps. Ortiz got his first tattoo three [...]

Oldschool Alex

Oldschool Alex, a tattoo artist, sees tattoos as a commitment. He says he doesn’t have a reason for every one of the many inscriptions that adorn him; they simply mark his ability to express himself [...]

Jonathan Romain

Jonathan Romain, a 23 year-old bookbinder and self-described day wanderer, “connects with animals more than people.” The “self-portrait” on his arm, a bear on one side and deer on the other represents the two sides [...]

The Brooklyn Ink Speaks to Brooklyn’s Inked

People give many reasons for getting a tattoo. The stories behind them range from the emotional – those commemorating the death of a loved one – to the lighthearted – those that were the result [...]

Kenneth Yulfo

Kenneth Yulfo, 39, from Sheepshead Bay, got his first tattoo in 1996. Yulfo says he chose to have a dolphin because he’s drawn to the creatures’ “beauty, intelligence and grace.” Yulfo, a body shop owner, [...]