Staten Island
Staten Island is different from the rest of the city, since many properties are one- and two-family houses. There are also garden apartment complexes, older buildings near the ferry, and plenty of storefronts. Douglas Security System (DSS) repairs and installs intercoms across Staten Island. Plus, we have worked on New York intercom and security systems for over 35 years.
The job might be a video doorbell-style door station for a house or a new entrance panel for an apartment complex. Either way, we’ll recommend what fits your property. Call (212) 262-2820 for a free quote.
See our intercom repair page for common fixes.
A video door station replaces an old doorbell or buzzer with a camera, a speaker, and a door or gate release. Here’s what to think about:
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For houses, a video door station with an indoor monitor and app access is usually the right fit. The Aiphone JP-DV has a vandal-resistant faceplate that stands up to the weather. For two-family homes, we install a separate station and monitor for each unit. For garden complexes and apartment buildings, the Comelit Ultra Touch gives residents video and phone access. It often works without replacing existing units. Also, our Comelit systems are no monthly fee systems.
Many homeowners also add security cameras for driveways and back doors.
Prices depend on the building, the number of apartments and entrances, and the condition of the wiring. Most single repairs, like replacing one apartment unit or fixing a door release, cost about $250 to $600. A video intercom for a small building with one entrance typically costs about $4,000 to $5,000 or more. However, these are average New York prices, not a fixed price list. For more detail, see our intercom cost guide. You can also ask about our no monthly fee systems.
Staten Island is part of New York City, so apartment buildings follow the city’s intercom rules. Class A multiple dwellings built or converted after January 1, 1968, with eight or more apartments must have a working intercom. It needs two-way voice and door release. Private houses aren’t covered by that rule, but a video intercom still adds security. The rule comes from Section 50-a of the New York Multiple Dwelling Law. Read our guide to NYC intercom requirements.
We serve the whole island, including:
Staten Island homes are spread out, so we group appointments by area when we can. Tell us your neighborhood when you call. Then we’ll find a time that works.
We also serve Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Long Island.
Staten Island rentals range from two-family homes to garden apartment complexes. For landlords, a working entry system means fewer tenant calls. It also means fewer disputes about who let whom in. We install separate stations for each unit in two-family homes and upgrade entrance panels in garden complexes. We also add keypads or key fobs, so you don’t have to replace keys every time a tenant moves. Apartment buildings also have to meet NYC’s rules, so see our guide to NYC intercom requirements.
Does your door station or buzzer still work most of the time? Then a repair is usually the most affordable fix. However, an upgrade makes more sense in some cases. Maybe it fails often, or parts are hard to find. Maybe you want to see visitors and answer from your phone. Many homeowners replace an old doorbell or buzzer with a video door station and app access. Many buildings replace only the entrance panel. We’ll give you both prices so you can compare. See intercom repair and video intercom installation.
Packages left on porches and stoops are a common problem. A video door station with phone access lets you talk to couriers. That way, you can ask them to leave packages in a safer spot. A camera that covers the porch and driveway also gives you a record of every delivery. See our security cameras.
Garden complexes and co-ops on Staten Island often have several low-rise buildings. Each one has its own entrance. If you connect every entrance to one system, residents get one app and management updates one directory. First, we check each building’s wiring and door hardware. Then we recommend whether to repair, upgrade the entrance panels, or replace the system.
Many Staten Island homes have a front gate or a long driveway. A gate station with a camera and remote release lets you see visitors. You can also open the gate from inside or from your phone. For longer distances, we choose equipment designed for the cable run or a network connection. As a result, the signal stays clear.
Medical offices, professional offices, and shops along Hylan Boulevard, Richmond Avenue, and Forest Avenue use video intercoms. That way, they screen visitors before they open the door. We install entrance stations and desk stations or app access for staff. We also add keypads like the Aiphone AC-10S keypad for employee entry, plus cameras at the door.
Tenants in Staten Island apartment buildings should report a broken intercom or buzzer to the landlord or management in writing. If it isn’t fixed, tenants can contact NYC 311. Landlords can call us for a repair quote.
Yes. We install video door stations, indoor monitors, and app access for one- and two-family houses across Staten Island. A typical house setup has a door station at the front, a monitor inside, and the same call on your phone. Detached houses often have long cable runs to a street-side gate or door, so we plan the cable route and power supply before choosing equipment.
The whole island, including St. George, Stapleton, New Dorp, Great Kills, Tottenville, Todt Hill, Port Richmond, and more. Staten Island housing ranges from North Shore apartment buildings and rowhouses to detached homes on the South Shore, and we handle both multi-unit intercoms and single-house door stations. The neighborhoods named here are examples, not borders, so a street that is not listed is still covered.
Yes. We install a separate door station and indoor monitor for each unit, and each household can have its own app access. Separate stations keep calls private, so a delivery for the second floor never rings the first. This helps in owner-occupied two-family houses where tenants change over time, because access for one household can be updated without touching the other household’s setup.
We choose weather-rated, vandal-resistant stations and protected mounting to help them last in coastal conditions. Near the water, the main enemies are salt air, wind-driven rain, and constant humidity, which corrode screw terminals and fog electronics. A hood, sealed cable entry, and a mounting spot away from direct spray do much of the work. Even so, any outdoor device wears faster on the shoreline than inland.
Yes. We repair older audio systems and can upgrade them to video, often reusing existing wiring and apartment units. Older apartment buildings commonly suffer from aging entry panels, corroded buzzer lines, or failed power supplies, and many of these faults can be fixed without replacing every apartment unit. When repair parts are no longer available, a panel upgrade that keeps the units is the usual middle option between patching and full replacement.
Yes. We install door stations with app access, so you can see and talk to visitors and couriers from your phone, even when you’re not home. When someone presses your button, the call reaches the phone over the internet, so the phone needs a data or Wi-Fi connection. That helps with deliveries, since you can speak with the courier from work and say where to leave the package.
Yes. We install intercoms, keypads, and cameras for storefronts, medical offices, and professional buildings across Staten Island. Businesses usually need a different mix than homes: a buzzer for after-hours visitors, a keypad so staff enter without keys, and a camera covering the entrance. Medical offices in particular care about who can reach back rooms, so the access method should match how the space is actually used.
Yes. In most houses, we can use the existing doorbell wiring or run new cable to install a video door station with an indoor monitor and phone access. We check the wiring and power first, so the new system works reliably. Old doorbell wire is thin and carries low voltage meant for a chime, so it sometimes cannot power a camera and screen. In that case, a new cable run is the fix.
Most single repairs cost about $250 to $600, and a video intercom for a small building with one entrance typically costs about $4,000 to $5,000 or more. A video door station for a house averages about $700 to $1,600. All of these are average New York figures, not a fixed price for your property. Unit count, cable route, and existing wiring set the final number, which comes in writing after an inspection.
In many buildings, yes. Our Comelit video intercom works alongside existing intercom units, so you can add video and phone access without rewiring the whole building. The apartment units already on the wall keep working, and the old wires between the lobby and each apartment stay in service where they are sound. An inspection shows which wires and units can stay. If a riser is damaged or one unit has failed, only that section is replaced.
Not with our Comelit systems. You pay once and there is no monthly payment. Property management software and call-log servers are optional and sold separately. Monthly charges on other systems usually pay for cloud hosting, remote app access, or a support contract. Without a subscription, the intercom keeps working after installation. Add the optional software only if your management office wants to track call logs or manage many apartments from one place.
On Comelit video intercom installs, we offer a 3-year guarantee on Comelit material and a 1-year guarantee on service and labor. In practice, a defective Comelit panel or monitor falls under the longer term, while a loose connection or wiring problem from our installation falls under the shorter one. Keep your invoice, since it records the installation date and the equipment that went in. That makes any later claim simple to document.
Call (212) 262-2820 or use the form on this page. Describe the building, roughly how many apartments it has, and the symptoms, such as a dead buzzer or no audio, and we will set up an inspection on Staten Island. The inspection matters because wiring condition cannot be judged from a description. The written quote that follows is free, and the work starts only after you approve it.