Tattooing was illegal in NYC from 1961-1997...apparently. What were some New Yorker attitudes about tattoos in the 5 years or so before the ban and why did it take so long to repeal it? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

Tattooing was illegal in NYC from 1961-1997...apparently. What were some New Yorker attitudes about tattoos in the 5 years or so before the ban and why did it take so long to repeal it?

by chikindiner

“[The city claimed that there was] an outbreak of hepatitis B, while others suspected it was because the city wanted to clean up before the [1964] World’s Fair. There’s also supposedly a love story involving a city official and one of the tattooer’s wives, and that kind of turns into a personal vendetta.”

I would love to know more about that last sentence if anyone has any resources.

According to the NY Times, this ban wasn't exactly enforced:

Not that he or thousands of others in the city have ever been deterred by the Department of Health's codes, which banned tattooing in 1961 after an outbreak of the hepatitis B virus. Mr. Marco has gone to city tattoo parlors to get seven blue-green tattoos on his forearms, shoulders and back, and he said he plans to get more. The Health Department concedes that it has never shut down a tattoo parlor and even professes not to know where they are, although tattoo fanciers say there may be as many as 50 full-time artists in the city.

So, why did it take 36 years to lift the ban? What was the impetus that finally got it accomplished in 1997?

NyPoster

I'm really sorry I missed it, but they New York historical society recently had an exhibit about tattooing in New York. Especially addressing some of the culture around tattoos during this period.

http://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/tattooed-new-york#

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/arts/design/tattooed-new-york-mohawk-chiefs-bowery-denizens-inking-artists.html?_r=0

As the article you linked mentions. The stated reason was a hepatitis outbreak in the 60's. I think the impetus for repeal was just getting it back out into the open so that it would be safer and not making criminals out of the thousands of artists and customers of tattoo parlors. It was pretty out in the open by that time and the Health department had no concerns.