Tattoo Shops in SoHo, Little Italy & Hudson Square, NY

Review counts run unusually high among the 25 tattoo shops in SoHo, Little Italy & Hudson Square, all in New York County, Manhattan. The area is a mix of busy walk-in rooms with big flash libraries and quieter private studios where an artist sees one client at a time. Fine line, black and grey, realism and Japanese work all have a home here.

The busiest walk-in rooms come first. UPLIFT TATTOO AND PIERCING NYC is rated 4.8 from 1443 reviews. It is a fine line studio open daily from 11 to 7, with delicate linework, floral bands, script and small symbols, plus a New York flash collection of skylines, stamps and bridges and custom work from a client's own idea. Live By The Sword Tattoo - Soho is rated 4.4 from 1665 reviews and runs as a walk-in shop where tattoos and piercings can be done the same day, with a flash selection rooted in classic tradition and pop culture.

Large studios with many hands sit beside them. BANG BANG TATTOO is rated 4.9 from 769 reviews and takes walk-ins. Its artists come from Korea, Poland, Sweden, Brooklyn and beyond, and their specialties include black and gray realism, fine line realism, decorative ornamental work, illustrative color, Asian neo traditional and Japanese-inspired florals. Five Points Tattoo brings walk-in and custom tattooing from large scale Japanese work to fine line pieces, with a roster of more than ten artists. Kings Avenue Tattoo is this Manhattan branch of a studio that opened its first shop in November 2005, with artists covering Japanese and American traditional, black and gray and realism.

Traditional and Japanese work gets its own address in Sena Tattoo NYC, a studio and art gallery established in 2012. It specializes in Japanese and American traditional styles as well as realism, and David Sena, Benjamin Scott and Daniel Cotte are among its artists. Walk-ins are always welcome. Genyth Tattoo grew out of a tattoo supply business and runs its own walk-in shop, with guest artists passing through and flash events held regularly. TINY ZAPS is built around small tattoos from a digital library of tiny designs, takes walk-ins and does not make custom tattoos.