The walls of Daredevil are covered with portraits of some of the first tattoo artists in New York and their original designs. Cases in the front of the shop are filled with antique tattoo guns and memorabilia, including a copy of what is believed to be the first tattoo gun, created by Thomas Edison. 

Daredevil offers tours of its memorabilia and antiques with its shop co-owner, Michelle Myles, any day of the week. As well as tours, tattoos can be scheduled any day as well, with one of seven different artists (including the two co-owners of the shop).

One of the tattoo artists at the shop, Noah Fiel, has been at the shop for more than three years and has been accompanied by his best friend, his dog Jumpshot, nearly every day since he’s been there. Daredevil is a dog-friendly shop, with other artists and clients also bringing in their dogs from time to time.

Close-up of Noah’s workspace in the shop. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

Noah Fiel and his dog, Jumpshot, in the back of Daredevil Tattoo. Noah designs a tattoo for his friend’s sleeve. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

A guest tattoo artist sits behind the front desk at the entrance of the shop. He’s designing a piece for a client later in the day. The walls are lined with original flash tattoo designs from some of the first working tattoo artists in New York City. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

(from left to right) Will Tran, Noah Fiel, Alec Nguyen and Christian Alvar show their back pieces. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

Noah wipes away some blood from Alec’s back as he takes pictures for his portfolio. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

(from left to right) Alec, Noah, Christian, Will, and Gilbert sit down for lunch in the middle of the shop. Immediately after Alec’s back piece is finished, he gets off the table, they change the paper, and sit down for a lunch break. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

Will shows another tattoo artist at the shop a new piece he had done on his back. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

The post Daredevil Tattoo Shop and Museum in Chinatown, Manhattan appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

The post LGBTQ community find a home in Big Apple Rec League appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

“I think it’s really important to note that the work is not done,” said Nina King, the Chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. “We will continue to make sure that we enhance the women’s championship and make sure that it is the very best women’s sporting event in our country.”

This is the first year the women’s NCAA tournament will receive similar support as the men’s , which fans, teams and players alike have been demanding for years. The biggest change was the inclusion of a women’s First Four and expanding the total number of competing teams, giving more women’s teams the chance to qualify for the tournament.

“It’s really exciting being back to normal [with the fans] and then with all the new firsts,” said King. “Having the same number of participation opportunities was really a critical priority, and I think we’re all just really grateful that we have arrived at this moment.”

While the demand for change in women’s sports has always been there, attention from the public has not, with most of the fans’ attention on the men’s tournament each year. However, last year, more women’s players started calling out the stark differences between the two tournaments on social media.

 One TikTok by Sedona Prince, a forward for the Oregon Ducks, showing the extreme differences between the women’s and men’s facilities at the tournament last year went viral on both TikTok and Twitter. In a few days, it gathered more than 13 million views and attracted the attention of big names like N.B.A star Steph Curry. After her video went viral, more pressure was placed on the N.C.A.A. to take a stand and address the inequalities between the two tournaments, which clearly favored the men’s competition. As a result, the NCAA launched an investigation into the inequalities between the men’s and women’s tournaments and released a report with a plan to create equality between the two tournaments.

“If that video got one-twentieth of the amount of views it did, who knows,” said Sedona Prince in an interview with the New York Times. “There might not have been an investigation in the first place, so that’s disappointing. But now that the NCAA has taken some responsibility for what it did, it’s cool to see. Hopefully in this tournament, we’ll see a lot of things have changed.”

And, many of the players have seen and acknowledged the changes in this year’s tournament so far, from the small things like similar quality of transportation and lodging for both leagues to the big things like the increase to a full 68 team tournament.

“You can tell that the NCAA is trying to make the right steps into becoming more equal and getting more support and more views for the women’s game, which is very much appreciated,” said Faith Masonius, a guard-forward for the Maryland Terrapins. “Hopefully, it will just get better and better each year, but we definitely acknowledge the changes that are being made and appreciate them.”

While the changes directly impact the players and their experience while competing in the tournament, they also encourage fans to invest more time watching the women’s league and businesses to invest more resources into women’s sports.

“It’s putting more weight towards the women’s game and seeing more and more fans come out and more support, you know, that’s amazing to see,” said Katie Benzan, a guard for the Maryland Terrapins. “And hopefully the NCAA sees the opportunity for women’s basketball to grow the game even more.”

With the success of this year’s women’s tournament and bracket challenges, the attention and support for women’s sports is definitely growing. Major sports companies like ESPN, which had 1.5 million women’s Tournament Challenge brackets made this year, have seen the shift in attention to women’s sports and are making efforts to cater to that audience (ESPN will be launching a WNBA. fantasy app for this upcoming season next month, the first company to create a fantasy league for a professional women’s sports league). While these are important strides being made by the NCAA, ESPN and others to grow the world of women’s sports, there is still much more that needs to be done.

“I think as women and as part of a minority group, we’ve taken great steps forward but definitely there are more steps to take,” said Benzan. “We’re proud to be women’s basketball players, you know, and we’re proud to show our game.”

The post NCAA Women’s Tournament Takes Steps Toward Equality appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Over 100 people organized in the downtown Manhattan park to march from Union Square to Washington Square Park in support of safe and legal abortion, preserving women’s rights, and in support of preserving Roe v. Wade.

In 2018, Mississippi enacted a law that bans abortions after 15 weeks, with many other states attempting to pass similar laws and failing, due to the precedent set by the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling in Roe v, Wade. Now, after nearly four years, the Mississippi abortion law has come before the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of upholding the Mississippi law, decades of precedent would be overturned, more than 20 states that have been trying to ban abortion would be within their right to do so. The march was organized by RiseUp4Abortion, an organization committed to advocating for abortion and women’s rights.

This year’s International Women’s Day, theme is #BreakTheBias, encouraging people to “imagine a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination” by forging women’s equality and securing their rights. Yet one of women’s biggest rights has come under attack: bodily autonomy through access to safe and legal abortion. Many believe that Roe v. Wade may get overturned sometime this year, and more states are placing restrictions on and even completely banning abortion ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision, which may occur in the next few months.

Protestors and members of different advocacy groups gather at Union Square on the corner of Broadway and East 17th Street on International Women’s Day. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

RiseUp4Abortion handed out signs that read “Abortion on Demand and Without Apology” in both English and Spanish. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

Women of all ages came to support today’s protest. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

Two women hold up this “Feminist Strike” canvas, showcasing the “solidarity among all women in supporting each other,” featuring phrases of unity and resistance in both English and Spanish on her piece. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

Protestors hold signs handed out by RiseUp4Abortion and self-made signs, showing dangerous, at-home abortion methods that have caused multiple deaths and injuries, such as coat hanger abortions. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

Kathy Najimy, actress, comedian, and women’s rights activist, shares at the rally in Union Square about her abortion experience at the age of 19. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

) V, formerly known as Eve Ensler, who is a playwright, author, performer and women’s rights activist, speaks in support of safe and legal access to abortion at the rally in Union Square. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

The post International Women’s Day rally for abortion rights appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

“I had class in-person this morning for the first time and really enjoyed being around everyone again,” said Blake Atwell, a senior at the University of Miami. “I’m also a last semester senior so I’m trying to appreciate all those little moments with everyone while I still have them.”

Roughly  10 to 15 percent of schools like Cardozo Law School in New York City and the University of Miami have said they made the decision to start the semester with two weeks of fully online classes in order to prevent a greater spread among its students. They also hoped this would help students figure out their travel plans, have a short quarantine period if needed, and have some extra time to find and get their booster shots before their first day of in-person classes on Jan. 31.

“Two weeks prior from today, they sent an email saying students are mandated to both wear masks and be boosted,” said Alex Hernandez, a University of Miami student. “And I think [masks and boosters] should definitely be requirements due to the spikes we’ve seen recently.”

While some students thought that these two virtual weeks were helpful, others felt that ultimately, it did not help them or others enough and thought it discouraged them from learning at the best possible level.

“It’s awesome that I get to be in class while in pajamas, but it also makes me disinterested in my classes honestly,” said Hernandez. “I like to be active and having something as small as putting on a fresh set of clothes or buying books pushes me to acknowledge the grind needed to be a hard working student.”

Sophie Winnick, a first year law student at Cardozo, said that she was worried the two weeks would end up becoming a longer period of time online, which she believes would have negatively impacted her learning experience overall.

“I personally struggle a lot with “Zoom U” and I find myself lacking motivation and the attention span, so it’s important to me to be in person,” said Winnick. “I was going to put off law school for a year to ensure it would be in person. My entire undergraduate senior year was online and I don’t think I got nearly anything out of it.”

Some students also said that the two weeks online affected their mental health.

“Missing out on the social aspect of in-person classes and staying inside or at home for the bulk of the daylight hours during weekdays was not ideal for my mental health,” said Ryan Whyte, a first year law student at Cardozo. “The effect wasn’t all that significant since it was only a two week period, but a longer period or even full semester of remote learning likely would have had some noticeable mental health ramifications.”

Students also  miss the social aspect of learning.

“I know that I would have a very difficult time learning the material online,” said Audrey Kim, a first year law student at Cardozo. “Law school classes are discussion-based and I don’t like participating on zoom. Additionally, I think socially I would have had trouble because I like seeing my friends every day.”

However, Kim added that she thought the guidelines were helpful and ultimately, she supported them.

“Even though online school sucks, I would rather be on Zoom the entire semester than one of my classmates or myself get seriously sick with COVID and have to go to the hospital,” said Kim. “It’s not ideal but I’m willing to sacrifice a lot for the well being of the student body and faculty.”

Not all schools felt that the two weeks initiative was necessary, such as New York University. Luke Di Liddo, a freshman at NYU, said that he is glad that his school decided to take that option and that he feels protected enough with the measures his school is taking to slow the spread of Covid-19.

“I prefer in person much more than online,” said Di Liddo. “The negative impact online school has on my mental health is significant, not to mention the huge difference in level of investment in class when online rather than in person.”

While Di Liddo said he understands why many schools have chosen to start their semesters virtually, it is still discouraging to him that so many changes and measures need to be taken in order for students to have a safe college experience.

“I appreciate that my school is trying to keep me safe, but I also wish it didn’t have to be this way,” said Di Liddo. “I think a lot of people feel like they are losing part of a very formative and valuable time in their lives, and there’s no easy fix for that.”

The post Students Excited to Return to In-Person Classes After a Virtual Start appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

“I was noticing all of this furniture being thrown away, and I had always noticed all the furniture on the street,” said Alyssa Kempinski, owner of Refuse Restoration NYC. “And I just started bringing it home with me.”

During the pandemic, cities across the United States noticed an increase of trash being thrown away, and New York was no exception. Currently, New York pays around $1.5 billion annually for their waste programs each year, or about $5000 per household. Kempinski believes that this money can go toward other initiatives that would encourage waste reduction.

“What if there were stores maybe owned by the city, thrift stores, something like that, where you could get furniture and home goods, all that kind of stuff,” said Kempinski. “Then it wouldn’t be going to the garbage, the city wouldn’t be paying for it to go to the garbage, and it would close that gap in regards to accessibility because there’s so many people in need of items, but they can’t afford it.”

Kempinski started repairing the furniture she would bring home and use it for herself, but she quickly ran out of room in her apartment. She started selling her refurbished furniture on Instagram and found that it sold very quickly. Through that, Refuse Restoration NYC was created to help her continue selling her refurbished furniture that she found in her neighborhood.

“I found this mirror near Columbia University,” said Kempinski. “It was easily a prop mirror, the whole back was made of this fake Styrofoam and the frame was the only thing made of wood. But all it needed was a little bit of paint. And it was awesome, and it sold really quickly. That’s what I find with so many of these things, is that there’s so much potential, but people usually won’t give it the deep clean or the new paint job that it needs.”

Now, Kempinski has expanded Refuse Restoration to include commission based pieces, helping others refurbish and preserve their existing furniture, and consultations to help others start their refurbishing journeys. She has partnered with Remix Market NYC in Queens, which sells reclaimed and donated furniture in their store. If Remix has a furniture piece that has not sold for awhile, they give it to Kempinski to refurbish and sell it elsewhere.

“All of my tools that I use, all of the paint that I use, all the products that I use, all of it’s all over my page for anyone to see and learn,” said Kempinski. “But if someone’s too stressed out by the possibilities and maybe don’t know where to start their search, they could come to me and I would help guide them with what they have in the space that they have.”

While Kempinski only started doing this work since the start of the pandemic, she has always loved repairing furniture and learned about it when she was a little girl from her mother. Since then, she has expanded her skill set and applies what she learned to her company now. 

“I started doing all this and selling items before I had all of the answers,” said Kempinski. “And I still definitely don’t have all the answers! But ultimately, it’s just problem solving.”

Bronwyn Tarboton, owner of NYC Trash to Treasures, also started her company during the pandemic last year.

“The pandemic made a lot of people notice the excess amount of waste on the curb because there was such an influx it was impossible to ignore,” said Tarboton. “Unfortunately it was just an eye opener to something that actually happens all the time and hasn’t started or ended with the pandemic.”

Tarboton said after being unemployed because of the pandemic, she was trying to refurbish her home on a very tight budget. She started collecting furniture that she found on the street, but ended up not needing everything she collected.

“I grabbed some dining chairs that didn’t end up working for me and not knowing what to do with them, I threw them up for sale on Facebook Marketplace,” said Tarboton. “They sold that week for over $200 dollars. From then on I began grabbing items that sparked my interest and putting them up for sale. This grew into me starting to fix items, and eventually fully transforming them, getting a storage unit to store inventory and supplies, and later documenting the entire process on social media.”

As her passion for her new business grew, so did her mission to reduce waste in NYC. She says all of her repaired and resold items are rescued from the trash, and therefore they don’t go into landfills. She also wants to raise awareness about waste reduction through her social media, and hopes to encourage others to start their zero waste journeys.

“As a society we  keep producing and consuming new items when perfectly good items that already exist are being thrown away,” said Tarboton. “It just makes no sense, especially when so many people are struggling financially and aren’t able to access the type of things that others are trashing. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when thinking about waste, but if we all just try a little bit with small, manageable changes and an awareness that what we throw away matters, it can make a huge difference!”

Kempinski has always been passionate about zero waste and reducing waste. She said  since New York is a transient city for many people, she has noticed the large amount of waste produced by the city for the entire time she has lived here. While she hopes her company can help with waste reduction on a small scale, she thinks policy change and funding from the city toward programs that encourage less waste and more recycling and donating will make a real impact.

“The city is paying so much for our waste programs,” said Kempinski. “Wouldn’t it make sense for the city to subsidize some programs that connect the wastefulness to people in need?”

Once Kempinski became more established on Instagram, others with similar companies and missions started reaching out and connecting with her. Sandy Busken, owner of Dear Mess organizing company and Pop Up Swap X, met Kempinski through one of her clothing swap events.

Erin Fitzpatrick and another swap attendee go through bags of donated swap items in a Pop Up Swap at Sandy’s Busken’s apartment. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

“I was immediately obsessed with Sandy and her company, because I love fashion, I love being fashionable,” said Kempinski. “But I am also now obsessed with the amount of waste that goes into fast fashion.”

Busken started Pop Up Swap X in 2011, which focused on hosting vintage clothing swaps in different areas of New York. Now, she’s expanded her company and created Dear Mess, where she goes to client’s homes to declutter and redecorate their homes. 

“There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that I haven’t had work or interest in it,” said Busken. “The schedule is always full. I think people see now that organizing their home is just such a critical part to seeing themselves where they’re headed.”

Dear Mess is a zero waste company, and any furniture, clothes, or other home items that the client does not want anymore. Busken collects the items herself and finds new homes or small markets for the items to go to. 

“I already knew the power of the circular economy, and how simple it was,” said Busken. “And then I just started increasing my resources, locating places in the city, wherever the clients are located that I can donate right away, whether it’s the linens and the towels to the local markets or shelters nearby. It’s just a Google Search. It’s more fulfilling than throwing it in a trash bag. And it takes seconds.”

The “circular economy” that Busken refers to is a term that she and many others in the waste reduction community use in regards to their work.

“So we have the option to reduce our consumption, we have the option to reuse it to recycle it, or put it into the waste bin,” Busken said. “So the circular economy means just keeping it in the cycle. So allowing it to continue to have life versus stopping the life of an item.”

While Busken already finds it fulfilling to be able to make sure that the items she gets from clients go to new homes, friends or other people who are in need of the items, she has had many clients that have left a bigger impact on her and reminded her of the importance of her work.

“The very first client I went to was pregnant, and her husband was a hoarder,” said Busken. “There was no space for the child. So this was something she did for her mental health and her home health and for her child. In that moment, I knew that I was helping people and I don’t want to walk away from it. I know I can help people with this.”

The post Small business encourage waste reduction in New York appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

“I feel overwhelmed,” said Diurno. “I feel very grateful for my team. And I couldn’t have done it without all these beautiful people, this is my family right here.”

Diurno crossed the finish line surrounded by about 15 other marathon runners that had already completed the marathon and went back to run the last 10 miles with him and cheer him on. Almost all of them were members of the Release Recovery organization, which helps people struggling with substance abuse and mental health transition back into sober daily living.

“So, they come to us and we teach you how to live in the real world,” said  Diurno. “But we’re there to support you. And we really care about people. People come first always.”

And, that’s exactly what the Release team did with Diurno and his first marathon. He said he was hesitant about running this marathon, but after training with other staff members for 10 weeks before the race, they convinced him to run and made sure he passed the finish line successfully — and that he wasn’t alone. 

Mario Diurno approaches the finish line after 11 hours of running with race organizers and his teammates cheering him on close by. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

“It felt really good,” said Joe Zappone, the Director of Operations at Release Recovery. “My friend Mario has been struggling training for this marathon. And personally, I had my doubts… So it feels pretty good to see him finish.”

Besides his team at Release, Diurno said he had some extra help from a new friend. He met another runner, a woman named Freddy, who decided to run the rest of the race with him, passing the finish line by his side. 

“That lady Freddy is the nicest lady in the world,” Zappone said. “She helped him with the route, or else he might have gotten lost.”

Freddy left shortly after she and Diurno received their medals. However, Diurno got her phone number before she left and was determined to stay in contact with her. He said Freddy was one of the last runners on the course, just like him. Since most of the spectators and street sweepers that would hand out snacks and Gatorade had already left, they decided to see it through together all the way to the finish line. 

“I found Freddy, she found me, and that’s all we needed,” said Diurno. “And that’s a big symbol like in recovery, too. I can’t do it alone. You know what I mean? We’re in this together.”

The post The Last Runner of the 2021 NYC Marathon appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Just across the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, from 8 to 9 a.m., spectators cheered on the runners as they pass the two-mile mark. Some runners shared some special moments with each other, celebrated their strong starts and encouraged each other along with spectators in the crowd.

Miriam Haart, runner 2423, cheers other runners on as she crosses into Brooklyn. She waved at the photographers to the side of the road and cheered “You guys go!” as she passed. Haart finished the race at 1:43 p.m. with a time of 04:44:09.Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

David Samad, runner 5635, crosses the bridge and smiles as passerby cheer him on. David finished the marathon with a time of 05:07:35. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes.

An NYPD officer hugs her fellow officer who is running in the marathon. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes.

A runner holds up a peace sign as they cross the bridge. Crossing the bridge is the 2 mile mark of the race, which is known as the hardest part of the entire marathon to many runners. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

Michael Ring, runner 7816, passes by the 2 mile mark into Brooklyn with his runner’s guide. “Do you know who I am?” he yelled. “I’m that famous guy, you know? Take my picture!” Ring,  was diagnosed with acute motor axonal neuropathy, a  variant of Guilliane-Barré syndrome which causes weakness in your extremities.   He has run over 20 marathons. Photo by Michelle Ng-Reyes

The post The runners appeared first on Pavement Pieces.