Tattooed Township
Blake Carr, owner of Lucky 13 Tattoo Parlor, fights Health Commission on regulations.
Shaun Dillon '02
Issue date: 9/16/02 Section: Princeton
Leigh Avenue does not appear
on Princeton postcards. Packed with
bungalows and Hondas, this narrow
lane seems miles from the spires of
the University and the Rolex-and-
Burberry boutiques of Nassau Street
and Palmer Square. Leigh Avenue runs
parallel to Nassau Street and lasts a
few hundred paces—about the distance
that separates it from the hum of
Jaguars and designer SUVs.
Known as the John Witherspoon
section of Princeton Township, the
neighborhood is modest and diverse—
it is not the Princeton of colonial mansions
on sprawling lots. Here, most
homes are tidy, though paint chips
and warped porch boards show their
age, and lawns are clipped by their
owners. The sounds of birds and barking
dogs are perforated by children's
voices—in Spanish.
Many local residents are Latin
American immigrants. A pedestrian
can follow the scent of nachos to
Tortuga's Mexican Village at the corner
of Leigh Avenue and John Street.
A sign on Mexican Village renames
John Street 'Juan Street,' and Lupita
Mexican Groceries is nearby.
The restaurant's green and red
façade is lively for this neighborhood,
and it leads the eye to the lavender,
periwinkle, and canary storefront next
door. A plastic sign reading 'Tattoo'
barely shows through the window
though it is encircled by a string of red
lights.
Inside, 28-year-old Blake Carr
sits in a leather chair, across from an
overstuffed couch. Framed posters
hang on the walls, along with a desksized
rolodex of tattoo designs. Lynyrd
Skynyrd's Greatest Hits plays in the
background. It resembles a waiting
room at the nearby Princeton Medical
Center or perhaps a dorm at the University.
However, an open door reveals
a back room, and a tattoo artist
at work.
Though he grew up in Princeton,
Carr does not look like the town's
stereotypical Brooks Brothers-clad
on Princeton postcards. Packed with
bungalows and Hondas, this narrow
lane seems miles from the spires of
the University and the Rolex-and-
Burberry boutiques of Nassau Street
and Palmer Square. Leigh Avenue runs
parallel to Nassau Street and lasts a
few hundred paces—about the distance
that separates it from the hum of
Jaguars and designer SUVs.
Known as the John Witherspoon
section of Princeton Township, the
neighborhood is modest and diverse—
it is not the Princeton of colonial mansions
on sprawling lots. Here, most
homes are tidy, though paint chips
and warped porch boards show their
age, and lawns are clipped by their
owners. The sounds of birds and barking
dogs are perforated by children's
voices—in Spanish.
Many local residents are Latin
American immigrants. A pedestrian
can follow the scent of nachos to
Tortuga's Mexican Village at the corner
of Leigh Avenue and John Street.
A sign on Mexican Village renames
John Street 'Juan Street,' and Lupita
Mexican Groceries is nearby.
The restaurant's green and red
façade is lively for this neighborhood,
and it leads the eye to the lavender,
periwinkle, and canary storefront next
door. A plastic sign reading 'Tattoo'
barely shows through the window
though it is encircled by a string of red
lights.
Inside, 28-year-old Blake Carr
sits in a leather chair, across from an
overstuffed couch. Framed posters
hang on the walls, along with a desksized
rolodex of tattoo designs. Lynyrd
Skynyrd's Greatest Hits plays in the
background. It resembles a waiting
room at the nearby Princeton Medical
Center or perhaps a dorm at the University.
However, an open door reveals
a back room, and a tattoo artist
at work.
Though he grew up in Princeton,
Carr does not look like the town's
stereotypical Brooks Brothers-clad