Locksmith Services in Newark, NJ

From two-family houses to Elizabeth Avenue towers

• Ironbound (East Ward). About 60 percent of the Ironbound's real estate market is two- and three-family houses. With a shared front door and hallway, one lost key touches every unit, so lock rekeying the shared entry is often the practical fix.
• Forest Hill (North Ward). On the east edge of Branch Brook Park, wealthy Newarkers built hundreds of stately homes from the 1870s to the 1920s. If an original door still carries its old hardware, ask about lock repair before replacement.
• Weequahic (South Ward). Detached single-family homes are oriented around Weequahic Park; high-rise towers stand on Elizabeth Avenue, including 440 Elizabeth Avenue (25 stories, 1970) and Zion Towers (29 stories, 268 apartments, 1972).
• James Street Commons. This 22-block historic district keeps late-19th-century homes and Washington Park, the city's oldest commons.

See-through gates on Newark storefronts

Section 18:12-5.1 of Newark's Nonresidential Property Maintenance Code sets two storefront rules that apply citywide, including on Ferry Street, the Ironbound's main commercial strip. Any security gate over a storefront window or door must be a grate or lattice type with 100 percent mesh or see-through composition, so a solid shutter does not qualify. Commercial establishments must also keep an exterior door at both the front and rear entrances.

Snow streets, tows and parking-lot cameras

• Snow-covered streets. Under traffic code Section 23:6-2, once snow covers the street, parking is barred on listed main roads, including stretches of Broad Street, Ferry Street, Springfield Avenue and Elizabeth Avenue, until they are plowed.
• Declared snow emergencies. For declared storms of six inches or more, Section 23:6-2.1 switches posted streets to alternate sides: no parking on the south and east sides on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and on the north and west sides on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
• Towing. Section 23:6-4 lets police remove a car left on a listed snow-covered street or under emergency no-parking signs, and the owner pays removal and storage costs. If your only car key is lost, replace it before a storm forces a move.
• Building lots. Housing buildings with parking for 30 or more vehicles must keep cameras covering the lot or garage, driveways and ramps and hold recordings for 60 days (Sections 18:5-1.5 and 18:5-1.6).

Housing Code rules that touch locks

• Order of protection. Section 18:16-1 lets an owner change a tenant's locks without a court order only after the tenant asks and has obtained an order of protection.
• Doorbells and intercoms. Section 18:3-1.58 requires dwellings with more than 10 units to have doorbells, intercoms or another device at the front exterior that lets a visitor signal each unit.
• Window guards. Under Section 18:3-1.65, owners of rented units must install child-protection window guards where a child 10 or younger lives, or on a tenant's written request. Section 18:3-1.66 requires guards on emergency egress windows (second- or third-floor sleeping-room windows without fire-escape access) to release from the inside without a key or tool.
• New tenancies. Section 18:6-10.1 requires a city inspection and Certificate of Code Compliance before any change in occupancy of a rental unit.

This is general information, not legal advice.

What to include in a Newark request

New Jersey Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Newark. Include your neighborhood or cross streets, and say whether it is a shared two-family entry, a tower unit behind an intercom, a storefront gate or a car on a snow street. See house lockout, commercial locksmith, car key replacement or the New Jersey page.