Cassioppia

I came here YEARS ago… I was 11 and for my 12^th birthday all I wanted was a second lobe piercing right above my normal hole. I must have thought the outside was «cool looking» or something because Unilocal didn’t exist and I didn’t know anyone who could give me a recommendation.
Enter «Cassioppia». Dark inside, lots of jewelry and in the West Village, a part of town that I was obsessed with in my younger years. The guy who did my piercing was sweet and professional, even when my mom (not approving what I wanted for my birthday) asked him to scare me into actually going through with it.
He proceeded to show me the extra long needle he was going to use and how it was going to go into my skin and I might bleed and then he showed me the piercing gun and was all like, «I’m going to use this gun» and my only concern was that my stud be cute and not yellow gold because yellow gold isn’t my thing.
He used a marker to dot my ears, showed me the placement and I approved. Once he actually got to piercing away the whole thing felt like 5 minutes, barely hurt and off I went. My lobes were red as hell, but I’m pale and it went away.
I used an ointment he gave me so that it would heal nicely, spun the earring around every once in awhile and used warm water to clean it out every morning as advised — 10+ years later they’re still perfect and I change my earrings constantly.
Totally coming here for a new piercing soon :).

Searching for a new piercer in NY has not been a fun trip for me. This shop is really small but has a good selection of jewelry. The girl at the front desk was about as unfriendly as they come but did recommend a nice piece for by navel. The stairs to the place where they pierce you are STEEP … be careful what shoes are on your feet! The piercing was done well — however since she was pushing through scar tissue — she could have warned me about the amount of blood and given me so kind of paper towel.
All in All it wasn’t a terrible experience, however I am still on the hunt for a piercer.

I got my tragus piercing here a while back — and the experience was just OK. I first had to wait for the piercer to get off the phone (a personal call, no less) which was rude and unprofessional.
Once she finally got off the phone, I told her what I wanted, picked out my jewelry and went up the most narrow staircase I’ve ever seen in NYC. The facility upstairs was clean and sterile (whew!) and the piercer made sure I was comfortable and settled in before stabbing me in the ear.
The piercing was done quickly and correctly and I was out the door just a few minutes after… but not before they sold me an expired bottle of that Bactine-​like solution to put on my piercing. I didn’t notice that it was expired until much later, and felt like I was duped.
I’ll probably never go here again — I’m much more likely to go to Andromeda, the sister store to this place… or another piercing place altogether.
On the plus side, the tragus piercing did not get rejected or infected and has not given me a problem in the time that I’ve had it.

This used to be my primary piercing shop until Natascha was moved to Andromeda.
Very sterile with much friendlier staff in comparison to their sister store. They have normal prices for piercings and tattoos. $ 40 for standard body piercings, $ 50+ for surface and more complicated piercings. I have never been tattooed there, so I’m not sure of the quality or the pricing.
For those who get lightheaded due to tattoos and piercings, you might want to go to another shop, because this place has a perilously steep spiral staircase you have to climb up to get to the actual piercing/​tattooing room.
I’ve gotten approximately 10 piercings at this shop and none of them rejected or became infected. The staff was very knowledgeable and professional. You can trust your skin with them.

Cassioppia is the worse tattoo parlor in New York. A good place to catch a disease.

1. You walk in a DIRTY little store (while sesing bad spirits) to meet staff who are «too cool» to give you the time of day.
2. You are HASTILY worked on by unprofessional staff who often dont have the correct equiptment for the job.
3. You go to saint vincents to be told your skin will always be messed up, or to get your new infection checked out.
4. you go to another parlor on the same block & try to get it fixed, which costs you less money.

I am basing this on fact and first hand experience.

FIRST THINGS FIRST THIS PLACE IS SOOO SMALL.
and if SUPERSKINNY windy staircases make you uneasy.
then you shouldnt get tatted or peirced here…
but aside from all that. my experience here was great
got my lip peirced… peicer was mad cool. and funny.
the price is really good … and its superclean upstairs (where all the magic happens)
and i was in and out in like. 20 mins or less…
«no open mouth kisses or oral sex for a month»…
its all i remember. from that waiver sheet… go figure.; ’ P

Cassioppia is the sister parlor of the great Andromeda: Andromeda rules the East Village, while the West Village is Cassioppia’s turf. The place is extremely clean, professional, brightly lit, and has polite employees. But it’s just not as good as Andromeda.
It might be the cramped space — it’s a bit smaller than its East Village sister. Or it might be its location — the West Village has long ago gone yuppie, and the place reflects its clientelle, very different from the punk crowd of two blocks to the east. Don’t get me wrong, the place is great; the service is great. I got my nose pierced here and came back later for a second piercing. But as for tattoos… I’ll always choose Andromeda.