The March issue of Inked Mag is out now and, as Marisa has previously pointed out, along with featuring beautiful heavily tattooed women in lesser and lesser states of undress, there are occasionally some righteous articles written by some or one of these here contributors on N+S.This month, I got to speak with living legend "Bowery" Stan Moskowitz. And while I was nervous that he'd somehow be able to reach through the phone to break my face and toss me down a flight of stairs, I managed to get through the interview in one piece. Here's a little preview of why you didn't -- and don't -- fuck with Bowery Stan.
There are a lot of rough stories from [the Bowery] days.
...You didn't know who the hell was comin' through the doorway. One time this guy comes in and he punches me in the stomach. See, I have to remember that 'cause no one ever did that before. And he says to me, "You do a good job, kid," and here he punched me in the stomach, the fuck. I picked up a ball-peen hammer I had and I hit him right in the head with it. Right in the forehead! Holy shit, it starts to bleed like a bastard!
And then you tattooed him anyway.
Yeah, I tattooed him. Well, my father saw the guy bleeding and he was spurtin' blood everywhere. He had a hot towel he put on him and he put this here blood-stopper on, and finally it stopped. So then my old man sat him down and I tattooed him! He gave me a tip and said he was sorry. [Laughs.] You know, it's laughable. It wasn't laughable then. Jesus Christ, now that I think of it--it's a good thing I wasn't older.
Stan is currently living in Florida and it's rumored that he'll be tattooing (still!) at this year's Philadelphia Tattoo Convention March 26th-28th. I am supremely grateful that he was willing to grant Inked/myself an interview and I'll be trying my damndest to make it to Philly that weekend.
The Wikipedia article on the Bowery only mentions tattooing once in passing. You New Yorkers who know something about this ought to take action.
In contrast, the 'net has lots of articles on The Pike, the Los Angeles area's old time tattoo hotbed. New York badass history being outdone by LA? That just doesn't seem right.