Tattoo artists in Central New York say they’re unsure which phase of reopening they’ll fall into, but they’re taking all the necessary precautions to make sure they’re ready when their time comes.

Co-owner of Resurrected Tattoo Jemola Addley, and owner of Three of Swords Jamie Santos say from PPE and sanitation, to gloves and blood borne pathogens, they were using safety measures before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, with shops closed and tattoo artists unsure when they’ll be returning, they say they’re making additional safety precautions to ensure they're keeping their customers and themselves safe, since they work in close quarters.

"Limiting the amount of people in the studio, limiting the amount of people in the waiting room trying to make sure that doesn’t happen at all," said Santos.

"We’re going to have a questionnaire where we ask everyone how have you been feeling, , we have a contactless thermometer so we’ll be taking everyone’s temperature, people that work there, people that come into the studio," said Addley.

Governor Cuomo announced, March 21 that tattoo shops would close along with salons and barbershops. Now that hair care businesses are set to reopen in phase two, tattoo artists are left wondering when their time will come.

"I never thought we were phase one but I didn’t want to be phase three or four  and the crazy thing is we don’t know until they start the phase," said Santos.

Artists want their clients to know as much as they miss them, and it’s going to take everyone doing their part to safely return to business.

"We’re a community if we don’t think together and work together we won’t get through this," said Santos.