Tattoo Artist to Make Her Mark on Vanderbilt Avenue

When Nikki Mink was a little girl she used to draw tattoos on her Barbie dolls and give them punk rock hairstyles using blue toothpaste.  

Today she applies that artistic instinct full time as manager of Fleur de Lis Tattoo, which opened on Vanderbilt Avenue a little over a week ago. 

Although the tiny shop is the Jersey City native’s first stint in tattoo parlor management, the Mink is not new to the body art scene. The 28-year-old East Village resident has worked in the industry for the past 11 years both as a tattoo model and artist and in management as creative director of Tattoo Society Magazine and helping to run two major festivals: Asbury Park’s Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival and the Art Tattoo Bolivia Convention in La Paz.  

Fleur de Lis came about when the owners of Brooklyn Bike and Board decided to turn 609 Vanderbilt Ave., a tiny storefront they had been using as an office, into a commercial venture, said Mink.  

“They couldn't open a bike store here, it was too small, and they were driving around one day and saw a tattoo spot and thought it would be perfect,” she said.

The partners, who also own several other Brooklyn bike stores, hired Mink to run the shop. Mink, in turn, is bringing Gunnar Quispe, well-known in the international tattoo schene, up from Bolivia as a second artist.

The shop is open Wednesday through Sunday 2 p.m. to at least 10 p.m. For the rest of the month they’re offering a special: a 1-inch tattoo for $35, which, apparently is a very good price.

If you’re hesitating due to pain rather than price, Mink says the sensation is more like a rug burn than searing agony. Plus the discomfort comes with some pleasure.

“After about five minutes your natural endorphins kick in—and that's the reason a lot of people come back for more, because they like the feeling,” she said.

But for Mink the art of tattoo is more about self-expression than the desire for a temporary high. “I think it's really important for people to decorate their bodies,” she said.