Intercom systems in Queens, one entrance at a time.
Video intercoms for Queens co-ops and garden apartments, row houses and two-family homes, and newer towers. A panel for every entrance that lists its own apartments, 2-wire video on tested existing wire, and IP systems where the building is new.
- 1A street or garden entrance for each stair
- 2Garden or courtyard gate, where there is one
- 3Lobby door in elevator buildings
- 4Cellar and service doors
- 1Street door with a vestibule
- 2Separate upstairs and downstairs doors in two-family houses
- 3Basement or rear door
- 1Residential lobby with a concierge desk
- 2Garage gate
- 3Package room
- 4Retail doors kept separate from the residential entry
Highlights show where each building type is common, not the only places we work. We install intercoms in every Queens neighborhood.
Queens buildings have more entrances than you think.
Garden courts, co-op boards, three-story flats, two-family houses, historic districts and new towers.
One panel for each stair
Garden apartment complexes, like those in the Jackson Heights Historic District, are built around shared gardens. Where each entrance serves its own stair, it gets its own panel that lists only its own apartments.
Boards with a long history
Jackson Heights introduced a plan for cooperative ownership in 1919, according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Queens co-op boards still ask for a written scope and a certificate of insurance; we provide both, with the building named as additional insured on request.
Three-story brick flats
Most buildings in the Ridgewood North Historic District are three-story brick tenements with six apartments each. A six-button video panel at the street door, on the old wire once it tests good, fits them well.
Two households, two buttons
Attached and two-family houses in Astoria and Woodside often have an upstairs and a downstairs household. Each gets its own button and its own monitor or app, and never the other household's calls.
Historic districts
Jackson Heights, Sunnyside Gardens, Ridgewood, Hunters Point, Douglaston and Addisleigh Park all have historic districts. In a landmarked building or historic district, exterior work may still need Landmarks Preservation Commission approval.
Long Island City towers
Newer towers in Long Island City get IP stations on Cat6 at the lobby, the garage and the package room, a desk station for the concierge, and calls to residents' apps.
Six stairs around a garden. Six panels, one directory.
A garden apartment court can have an entrance for every stair and a gate into the garden. Pick an entrance and see what its panel lists, where its call runs and which door it opens.
Each entrance and stair serves its own group of apartments. The panel at entrance B lists only those apartments, calls up that stair's wire, and releases only door B.
Entrance E works the same way for its own stair. A resident of stair E never shows up on panel B, and a visitor at B cannot release door E.
Where the court has a gate from the street, the gate panel lists every apartment by entrance. The resident releases the gate, and can release their own entrance door from the same call.
- Directory
- Only the apartments on stair B
- Only the apartments on stair E
- Every apartment, grouped by entrance
- Wiring
- Release
- Up stair B to its apartments, tested first if it is old
- Its own run up stair E
- The gate first, then that stair's door
- Release
- Management
- Power
- Door B only, on its own relay
- All six panels kept in one directory on the dashboard
- Each lock on the lock power supply, switched by its own relay
Garden apartments, co-ops and small flats share the same entrance rules, and several Queens neighborhoods are historic districts.
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. Queens districts include Jackson Heights, Sunnyside Gardens, Ridgewood North, Ridgewood South, Central Ridgewood, Hunters Point, Douglaston and Addisleigh 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, Queens
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission: Jackson Heights Historic District Designation Report (October 19, 1993), on garden apartment complexes, attached houses and the 1919 plan for cooperative ownership
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission: Ridgewood North Historic District Designation Report (September 15, 2009), on three-story brick tenements with six apartments each
What goes into a Queens intercom job.
From a two-family house to a six-entrance court, the same parts in different numbers.
Entrance panels
One per entranceA video door station at every entrance visitors use, each with its own directory, a wide-angle camera, and IP and IK ratings for weather and impact outdoors.
Door release hardware
Strike · maglockAn electric strike in the door frame, or a magnetic lock on the header of a glass and metal 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, switched by its own relay for each door and the garden gate. Power work is coordinated with the electrician.
Wiring
2-wire · Cat6The existing station wire on each stair for a 2-wire video system once it tests good, or Cat6 with PoE for IP stations, each run within the 100 m channel limit. Every penetration we make through a fire-rated wall or floor is fire-stopped.
Answering
Station · appIn-unit stations or monitors for residents who want them and the phone app for the rest, with separate routing for each household in a two-family house.
Directory and records
One dashboardEvery entrance panel managed from one dashboard: names and unit codes, temporary codes with start and end times, and a log of door events at each entrance.
From the first entrance to the last.
We test every stair's wire before planning on it, and every door release before we leave.
Site visit and wire test
We walk every entrance and the garden gate with the super, and test the station wire on each stair.
Written scope
Panels, hardware, wiring and apartment visits for each entrance, in writing, with the certificate of insurance the board asks for.
Installation
One entrance at a time, so the others keep working. Every door release is tested at every entrance.
Handover
Every directory loaded in one dashboard, residents set up on the app or a station, and the super shown how to update names.
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."
Queens intercoms, answered.
How much does intercom installation cost in Queens?
It depends on the building. The price comes from the number of entrances and apartments, whether the existing station wire tests good enough to reuse, what residents answer on, the door hardware and the directory type. A garden court with six entrances is quoted entrance by entrance. We give a written quote after a site visit.
Can you install a video intercom in a Queens co-op?
Yes. Where the old station wire tests good, a 2-wire video system can run on it, so the walls stay closed. Residents answer on an in-unit monitor, a station or the phone app. We provide the written scope and certificate of insurance the board asks for.
Our building has several entrances. Does each one need a panel?
Each entrance that visitors use needs a way to call in. In a building where each entrance serves its own stair, each panel lists only its own apartments and releases only its own door, and all of them are managed from one dashboard. A gate into a shared garden can get a panel that lists everyone.
Do you install commercial intercom systems in Queens?
Yes. Storefronts, offices and the commercial side of mixed-use buildings get their own door stations and directories, with calls to staff phones, desk phones or a front desk, kept separate from the residential entry.
Can a two-family house have separate buttons for each floor?
Yes. Each household gets its own button and its own monitor or app, so the upstairs and downstairs households only get their own calls. If the house has two doors, each door releases on its own relay.
Does a Queens 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.
Do you work in Queens historic districts?
Yes. In a landmarked building or historic district, exterior work may still need Landmarks Preservation Commission approval. A new panel in the opening of the old one can keep exterior work small; we look at the options on the site visit.
What areas of Queens do you serve?
All of Queens, from Astoria and Long Island City to Flushing, Bayside, Jamaica and the Rockaways. We also work in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island and New Jersey, and on selected jobs in Connecticut.
Intercoms across NYC and North Jersey.
- Astoria
- Bayside
- Bellerose
- Briarwood
- College Point
- Corona
- Douglaston
- East Elmhurst
- Elmhurst
- Far Rockaway
- Flushing
- Forest Hills
- Fresh Meadows
- Glendale
- Hollis
- Howard Beach
- Jackson Heights
- Jamaica
- Kew Gardens
- Little Neck
- Long Island City
- Maspeth
- Middle Village
- Ozone Park
- Queens Village
- Rego Park
- Richmond Hill
- Ridgewood
- Rockaway Beach
- Rosedale
- South Ozone Park
- Springfield Gardens
- St. Albans
- Sunnyside
- Whitestone
- Woodhaven
- Woodside
Ready to plan your Queens intercom?
Tell us the building, how many entrances it has and roughly how many apartments. We reply with a clear next step, the same day when we can.