Apartment & Home Rekeying

New York landlords are legally required to change locks between tenants under NYC Administrative Code §27-2043, but enforcement is inconsistent and the scope is narrow. Even when a landlord complies, the rekey may cover only the front door, leaving secondary entry points — a rear stairwell door, a basement-level unit entrance, or a gate lock on a garden apartment in Carroll Gardens — untouched. Empire Locksmith NYC audits every entry point during a move-in rekey call, ensuring no cylinder is overlooked. Our technicians carry a full inventory of compatible pins and springs for the most common New York residential hardware, from standard Kwikset knobsets to heavy-duty Schlage deadbolts, so we almost never have to make a second trip for parts.

Rekeying works by disassembling the plug from the cylinder, replacing the driver and key pins with a new combination, and reassembling everything so only your new key — and any authorized duplicates you choose to cut — will operate the lock. The cylinder itself, the door, the strike plate, and the hardware finish are completely untouched. For tenants in pre-war buildings throughout the West Village or Harlem, where ornate door hardware is irreplaceable, this damage-free approach matters enormously. We document the new key code for your records and can cut additional copies on the spot.

New York City's pre-war building stock — and there is a staggering amount of it, from the limestone row houses of Park Slope to the tenement walk-ups of the Lower East Side — relies heavily on the mortise lock, a multi-component assembly set into a routed pocket in the door edge rather than surface-mounted like a standard cylindrical lock. A mortise lock integrates a deadbolt, latchbolt, and sometimes a privacy function into one steel case, making it more secure than a door knob lock alone but significantly more involved to rekey correctly. Disassembling the cylinder without disturbing the internal cam, tailpiece, or spring-loaded case components requires a technician who has worked on mortise hardware repeatedly — not someone consulting a diagram for the first time.

Empire Locksmith NYC technicians are specifically experienced with the full range of mortise lock formats found across New York's housing stock, including older formats that accept skeleton-style keys, mid-century formats with interchangeable cores, and modern high-security cylinders from manufacturers like Schlage. We carry the pinning kits and follower tools to rekey a mortise lock cylinder cleanly, on-site, without removing the entire case from the door. If the existing mortise lock cylinder is worn, corroded from years of harsh New York winters, or otherwise compromised, we can replace just the cylinder and rekey it to your chosen key in the same appointment.

A key lost in transit is an emergency locksmith situation — not because the lock is broken, but because the window of uncertainty is open and closing it requires professional action, not waiting until Monday morning. Empire Locksmith NYC operates as a true 24/7 mobile service: our dispatchers answer calls at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday just as readily as at noon on a Saturday, and we route the nearest available technician to your address immediately. Whether you're in a high-rise near Hudson Yards or a two-family house in Woodside, Queens, response times are kept tight because our fleet is spread across the city, not staged from a single shop. If you've lost a key and are locked out, do not attempt to force the door or jimmy the lock yourself — check for a building super, a spare key with a trusted neighbor, or an alternate entrance first, and then call us at (646) 798-1959 so we can verify your identity and get you inside safely.

Once access is confirmed, the rekey happens immediately — in the same visit. There is no reason to wait for a separate appointment once your technician is already on-site. We carry everything needed to rekey the most common residential cylinder types in New York: single-cylinder deadbolts, double-cylinder deadbolts, door knob lock assemblies, lever-handle sets, and mortise lock cylinders. The new key is cut, tested in the lock multiple times, and handed to you before our technician leaves.

Two of the most common questions we receive are 'How much does an NYC locksmith cost?' and 'How much does a local locksmith charge?' — and the honest answer is that no responsible locksmith quotes a flat number without knowing the specifics of the job. The factors that determine your final price include the type and brand of lock being rekeyed (a standard Kwikset door knob lock differs significantly from a high-security mortise lock cylinder), the number of cylinders being serviced in a single visit, the time of day (overnight and weekend calls involve different logistics than a weekday afternoon appointment), travel distance to your location within the New York metro area, and whether any parts — replacement cylinders, new pins, or additional keys — are needed beyond a standard rekey. We never start work until we have confirmed an exact, all-in price with you upfront. What you are quoted is what you pay — no line items added after the fact. For context, questions like 'What is the average call out fee for a locksmith?' or 'How much does it cost to book an emergency locksmith?' are relevant if you're comparing service models, but our approach is transparent: one confirmed price, no surprises, and a detailed receipt for your records. (Note: queries about Dubai locksmith costs reflect international markets and pricing structures that do not apply to New York service calls.)

If your building requires commercial-grade hardware — for instance, a ground-floor unit in a mixed-use building along Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn that shares an entrance with retail space — our commercial locksmith expertise covers high-cycle cylinders, restricted keyways, and master key systems as well. Whether the job is purely residential or sits at the boundary between residential and commercial, we size the quote to the actual work involved. Call (646) 798-1959 any time to describe your situation and get a clear, no-obligation price before we dispatch.