Intercom installation in Brooklyn, from the stoop to the lobby.
Video intercoms for Brooklyn brownstones and row houses, pre-war apartment buildings and newer condos. Stations at the parlor door, the garden door and the gate, 2-wire video on tested existing wire, and IP systems for new buildings.
- 1Parlor door at the top of the stoop, with a vestibule
- 2Garden door under the stoop, behind the iron gate
- 3Rear yard door, where used
- 1Street door and vestibule
- 2Lobby door
- 3Courtyard or side gate, where there is one
- 4Cellar and service door
- 1Lobby entrance
- 2Garage gate
- 3Package room
- 4Amenity and roof doors
Highlights show where each building type is common, not the only places we work. We install intercoms in every Brooklyn neighborhood.
Brooklyn entrances come with a stoop, a gate or a lobby.
Two-entrance row houses, areaway gates, masonry walls, historic districts, pre-war risers and new condo lobbies.
Two entrances on one brownstone
A brownstone usually has a parlor door at the top of the stoop and a garden door under it. Each entrance gets its own station or button, so visitors for the garden unit and for the upper floors reach the right people.
Iron gates at the areaway
An iron gate at the sidewalk can take an electric lock released by the intercom on its own relay, so a visitor at the gate is let through before reaching the garden door.
Brick, brownstone and plaster
Brownstone is a sandstone, and behind it the walls are often brick with plaster inside. New cable runs up from the cellar and through existing chases where it can, so finished walls stay closed.
Historic districts
Brooklyn Heights was designated a historic district in 1965, and Park Slope, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Cobble Hill and Stuyvesant Heights are districts too. In a landmarked building or historic district, exterior work may still need Landmarks Preservation Commission approval.
Pre-war lobbies in Flatbush and Crown Heights
Pre-war apartment buildings in Flatbush, Kensington, Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Crown Heights often have station wire in every riser. Tested and reused where it passes, it can carry 2-wire video to each apartment.
Newer buildings in Williamsburg and DUMBO
Newer condo buildings get IP stations on Cat6 at the lobby, the garage gate and the package room, a card reader at the station for residents, and calls to the app or an in-unit monitor.
The garden door is in the shade. The camera has to see a face.
Under a Brooklyn stoop the garden door sits in shadow by day and in the dark at night, and the visitor may be stuck at the gate. Pick a case, then compare as found and as installed.
Under the stoop the garden door is in shade, and the camera looks out at the bright sidewalk. Without wide dynamic range the visitor's face goes dark.
A station with wide dynamic range (WDR) balances the shade and the street, and a soft light at the door evens out the face.
After dark the space under the stoop gets little street light. The picture is grainy and the face is lost, so the resident opens the door blind.
A light at the garden door, on a photocell or a schedule, gives the camera a color picture at night. Infrared gives a black and white picture where there is no light.
With the areaway gate locked, the visitor never reaches the station at the garden door, and the door camera only sees an empty areaway.
A weatherproof station on the gate post, an electric lock on the gate on its own relay, and the cable run under the areaway to the cellar. The resident releases the gate, then the garden door.
- Camera
- Light
- Station
- Facing out of the shade toward a bright street
- WDR on, aimed at face height
- None at the door
- At the door, on a photocell or a schedule
- At the garden door only
- On the gate post, with IP and IK ratings
- Result
- Light
- Camera
- Gate
- Gate lock
- A face too dark to recognize
- A soft light beside the garden door
- A grainy picture with no face
- Color with light, black and white on infrared
- Locked, with no release
- Electric lock on its own relay and lock power supply
- Cause
- Mount
- Residents
- Landmarks
- Result
- Then
- Backlight, not a broken camera
- Buttons and camera roughly 4 to 5 ft to the center
- Release the door without knowing who it is
- In a landmarked building or historic district, exterior work may still need Landmarks Preservation Commission approval.
- The visitor cannot ring
- The garden door releases on a second relay
Row houses in historic districts and apartment buildings with older entrances make up much of the intercom work in Brooklyn.
Under New York Multiple Dwelling Law section 50-a, an apartment building erected or converted after January 1, 1968 with eight or more apartments must have an intercom at the main entrance, along with self-closing, self-locking entrance doors. This is general information, not legal advice. Read the NYC building security compliance guide.
In a landmarked building or historic district, exterior work may still need Landmarks Preservation Commission approval. Brooklyn districts include Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Stuyvesant Heights, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights North and Ditmas Park.
- New York State Senate, Consolidated Laws of New York: Multiple Dwelling Law section 50-a, Entrance doors and locks
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission: Historic District Maps, Brooklyn
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission: Brooklyn Heights Historic District Designation Report (November 23, 1965), on brick and brownstone houses and apartment houses
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission: Rowhouse Manual, on brownstone as the common New York form of sandstone and on stoops by style
What goes into a Brooklyn intercom job.
A two-unit row house and a sixty-unit lobby use the same parts, in different numbers.
Door stations
Video · weather ratedA video door station at each entrance that visitors use: the parlor door, the garden door or the gate, or the lobby. A wide-angle camera with WDR, and IP and IK ratings for weather and impact outdoors.
Door release hardware
Strike · gate lockAn electric strike in the frame of the original wood door, an electric lock on an iron gate, or a magnetic lock on a glass lobby door with an exit sensor. We pick the lock for each door around its use and the building's fire and life safety requirements. A magnetic lock needs a free way out from inside at all times.
Lock power and relays
One per doorA separate low-voltage power supply for the locks, with one relay per door, so the gate, the garden door and the parlor door release on their own. Power work is coordinated with the electrician.
Wiring
2-wire · Cat6Existing doorbell, buzzer or riser wire, tested and reused for 2-wire video where it passes, or Cat6 with PoE for IP stations. Every penetration we make through a fire-rated wall or floor is fire-stopped.
Answering
Monitor · appA monitor on each floor of a row house, stations or the app in apartment buildings, and separate routing for each household, so the garden unit never hears the owner's calls.
Lighting and camera aim
At the doorA soft light at a shaded doorway, the camera aimed at face height, and the station mounted roughly 4 to 5 ft to the center, within an accessible reach range.
From the stoop to a tested system.
We test the old wire before planning on it, and every release before we leave.
Site visit
We look at every entrance, the gate, the cellar and the old wiring, and test the wire before anyone plans on reusing it.
Written quote
Stations, door hardware, wiring path and what each household answers on, in writing.
Installation
Cable up from the cellar where it can go, stations and locks mounted, and the camera aimed at face height. Every door release is tested.
Handover
Monitors and apps set up for each household, and a walkthrough of who answers which door.
What our clients say.
Word for word from our Google reviews, from homeowners, building staff and business owners.
"Really happy with Seneca Security. Their team clearly knows home security inside and out. They walked me through the options and put together a custom setup that fit exactly what I needed, instead of pushing a one-size-fits-all package. The crew showed up right on time, got the whole system installed in a single day, and the install was clean, with tidy wiring and no mess left behind. Highly recommend them to anyone looking for a solution built around their home."
"They mapped all my existing wiring and helped me come up with a plan as to move wiring to accommodate my televisions and set up WiFi to extend throughout my condo so there were no gaps in coverage. ... They also cleaned up the wiring in the closet so that it looks clean and organized. I can’t say enough wonderful things about Alexander and Joseph."
"They installed a 14 camera system in my store & an electronic door lock. Very clean job, very professional! Took the time to show me how to fully work the system."
"Seneca came to fix & replace cameras in the building I work at. They were able to fix the problem within 1 day. Great experience with them."
Brooklyn intercoms, answered.
How much does intercom installation cost in Brooklyn?
It depends on the building. A row house with two entrances, a gate and two households is a different job from a pre-war lobby with fifty apartments. The price comes from the number of entrances and units, whether existing wire tests good enough to reuse, the door and gate hardware, and what residents answer on. We give a written quote after a site visit.
Can you put a video intercom on a brownstone without opening the walls?
Often, yes. Where the old doorbell or buzzer wire tests good, a 2-wire video system can run on it. Where new cable is needed, we route it up from the cellar and through existing chases where we can, and show you the route before work starts.
Can the garden apartment and the upper floors have separate buttons?
Yes. Each household gets its own button and its own monitor or app, and each entrance can release on its own relay, so the garden unit and the owner never get each other's calls.
Can you add a station at the gate under the stoop?
Yes. A weatherproof station on the gate post and an electric lock on the gate let visitors call from the sidewalk. The gate releases on its own relay, then the garden door on a second one.
Do you work in Brooklyn historic districts?
Yes. In a landmarked building or historic district, exterior work may still need Landmarks Preservation Commission approval. A new station in the opening of the old one, or inside the vestibule, can keep exterior work small; we look at both on the site visit.
Does a Brooklyn apartment building need an intercom?
Under New York Multiple Dwelling Law section 50-a, an apartment building erected or converted after January 1, 1968 with eight or more apartments must have an intercom at the main entrance, along with self-closing, self-locking entrance doors. This is general information, not legal advice. Our NYC building security compliance guide covers it in more detail.
Can residents answer the door on their phones?
Yes. Most current systems ring a phone app, and some panels call residents' phones directly over the internet or a cellular connection. A monitor on the wall can stay for anyone who prefers one.
What areas of Brooklyn do you serve?
All of Brooklyn, from Greenpoint and Williamsburg to Bay Ridge, Flatbush and Canarsie. We also work in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island and New Jersey, and on selected jobs in Connecticut.
Intercoms across NYC and North Jersey.
- Bay Ridge
- Bedford-Stuyvesant
- Bensonhurst
- Boerum Hill
- Borough Park
- Brighton Beach
- Brooklyn Heights
- Bushwick
- Canarsie
- Carroll Gardens
- Clinton Hill
- Cobble Hill
- Coney Island
- Crown Heights
- Ditmas Park
- Downtown Brooklyn
- DUMBO
- Dyker Heights
- East Flatbush
- East New York
- Flatbush
- Flatlands
- Fort Greene
- Gowanus
- Gravesend
- Greenpoint
- Kensington
- Marine Park
- Midwood
- Mill Basin
- Park Slope
- Prospect Heights
- Prospect Lefferts Gardens
- Red Hook
- Sheepshead Bay
- Sunset Park
- Williamsburg
- Windsor Terrace
Ready to plan your Brooklyn intercom?
Tell us the building, the entrances and how many units or households. We reply with a clear next step, the same day when we can.