Tattoo Shops in Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO & Boerum Hill, NY

Most of the 12 tattoo shops in Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO and Boerum Hill are private studios that work by appointment. The tone here is quiet and designed: a Zen garden with an indoor pond in one studio, a waterfront space in another, a tattoo room attached to a therapy practice in a third. If you want to wander in off the street and pick from a wall of flash, this page has fewer of those than most. If you want a custom piece drawn for you in a calm room, you are in the right part of Kings County.

Midnight Blooms Studio is an appointment-only private studio focused on nature-inspired custom work: floral and botanical pieces, ornamental designs, fine line and blackwork, including botanical sleeves. It is rated 5.0 from 223 Google reviews, 222 of them five stars, which makes it the best documented record on the page. TINGLE STUDIO in DUMBO, rated 4.9 from 141 reviews, has six artists and a booking form that matches each client with the artist whose style suits the idea. It does fine line, realism, botanical work and large custom pieces, and it takes walk-ins.

Studio Echoes, also in DUMBO, is a private tattoo and art studio run by four artists with an illustration background, with a flash offering and eco-friendly supplies. It is rated 5.0 from 94 reviews. BANDIT Studio sits on the DUMBO waterfront and works by appointment only, with resident artists Bruno Levy and Evan and guest artists coming through. It is rated 4.8 from 35 reviews. Both are the kind of room where you book ahead and talk through the design before the day.

The range of styles is wider than the quiet atmosphere suggests. Pyramid Ink Tattoo, owned and worked by Peeko, does color and black and grey, traditional and new school styles, and cover-ups or reworks, rated 5.0 from 29 reviews. Japanese Tattoo in NYC is a private appointment-only studio where Acetates focuses on large custom irezumi and horimono, rated 5.0 from 13 reviews. Tattoo Therapy pairs artist Kelly Gelling, who has more than 20 years of experience and does custom designs and cover-ups, with a psychotherapy practice run by Catherine Chinnock. Clients can also book a ritual tattoo experience built around the meaning of a piece.