Keys to the City: Chronicles of a New York Locksmith

[gentle music]

[crickets chirping]

[traffic whirring]

[sprinkler sputtering faintly]

[sprinkler sputtering]

[phone ringing]

[Tony] Service?

Hey, service.

[Tony] How are you, buddy?

I'm hanging in here, man.

Day at a time.

[dart thudding]

[Tony] So, how's retirement treating you?

Oh, very good. [water pattering]

Very good.

Just getting old, that's all.

[TV Voice] Captioning is brought to you by Frog Tape,

for the sharpest paint, How's the shop doing?

[TV Voice] Frog Tape is the only tape...

[Tony] The shop is, uh...

Well, to tell you the truth,

I haven't been coming here that much.

Wasn't much business,

so I haven't been coming.

Yeah, the world changed.

The world changed.

[traffic rumbling]

[car horns honking]

[bus engine revving]

[phone ringing]

Good afternoon, service.

Hi. Is this the locksmith? Yes.

[Caller] How much do keys go for?

A lot of money.

[Caller] What?

[laughing]

Keys start at a dollar.

[Caller] Well, listen, I got 20 keys here.

You can do better than that.

Listen to me.

Listen to me.

I've had 'em at a dollar a key since the year 2000.

I'm not gonna lower the price.

Matter of fact, the price should be higher.

So I don't care if you have 20 keys.

It'd still be a dollar a key.

I'm sorry.

[Caller] Okay. Okay.

Okay. I'll be there soon.

Alright, guy.

Alright. Is that a threat or a promise?

[laughing]

[Caller] Whatever you want, boss.

[caller and Tony laughing together]

Okay, guy. Alright, thanks.

You're welcome. Bye.

[phone clacking]

[metal clanking]

[gentle music]

We don't cut keys here.

[Customer] No? Not at all?

We sell shoes.

What size you wear?

12. 12?

Oh, we don't have that.

[customers laughing]

In 1969, I opened All Brooklyn Locksmith.

[phone ringing]

Service.

What's your address?

The name, All Brooklyn Locksmith came to me

'cause I said I'm gonna cover all of Brooklyn.

[exuberant jazz music]

[car horn honking]

Hello. How are you doing, sir?

This is Matthew, the locksmith.

[Tony] Matthew's probably the best locksmith I know.

[saw blade whirring]

[hammer tapping]

He can handle just about any situation.

After that, I got a lockout for him in the neighborhood.

[Customer With Car] How long you been doing this?

47 years. Oh, okay.

Let me tell you something.

I'm not busting your glass.

[Matthew chuckling]

[car door clacking open]

[jazz music continues]

Bye.

[Tony] Not everybody could be a locksmith.

It takes a certain type of person.

Ah, shit.

I think I'm gonna have to go to the ATM.

Baby, if you're gonna be on the phone,

please go in the other room.

Thank you so much for letting us in.

Ready? Give the man the money.

Give the man the money.

Thank you so much.

You know, I'm running a business here.

I don't care about your parking situation.

I lost it. [door slamming]

This job is like people, I would say,

you think you know it all or you know the person,

and then all of a sudden something new comes up.

That's what the job is like.

[tools whirring]

This is good.

We seem to compliment one another.

Yeah. But ya'll should gimme a discount.

You gotta talk to Tony about that.

Discount? You gotta go to a discount store.

This is the Locksmith store.

[Tony and Matthew laughing together]

[exuberant jazz music]

[exuberant jazz music fades out]

[van rattling]

[gear shift clacking]

Let me ask you something.

[gear shift clacking]

[keys jingling]

Where is 1935?

1935? Yeah.

That's the, not this building.

It's the building right behind it.

I can go back around and- Yeah.

Unless you want to take this spot,

and you can just walk through this courtyard.

You got a lot of heavy equipment or something?

Yeah. It's kind of heavy.

So I'll just drive around-

It is, but you're not gonna get a spot on that side.

Yeah. Plenty parking over there.

Yeah? Yeah.

On the parkway side? Yeah.

Keep an eye on your truck too, over there.

That's where they break into stuff.

Okay. You know, not all the time.

I just, you know, if you got something good in there.

All right.

[van door slamming]

[gentle music]

The longer I've lived in this city,

I became more withdrawn from people.

[gentle music continues]

I only dealt with people when I had to.

I'm ready to get out of New York

because I'm not happy here anymore.

This is for the younger generation.

[gentle music concludes]

[traffic rumbling]

[bus brakes screeching]

[clock ticking]

I got a funny feeling,

when Matthew leaves,

I'm gonna have to spend more time here.

I forgot I was gonna get old.

That's what happened.

[Matthew chuckling]

I was looking to stay young.

Yeah.

So you're reminding me that I'm gonna get old.

Ha, yeah. Okay.

What once was won't be again,

you're gonna constantly have change.

[keys jingling]

[birds chirping]

[soothing jazz music]

[piano joins soothing jazz music]

When I'm by myself,

I know what I can do and what I cannot do.

I don't depend on nobody for nothing.

George came in, he came in for a job.

He was looking for a job.

I called him up and he came in for an interview.

He's gonna take Matthew's place.

And be honest, I can run the whole fucking show here.

I can do everybody's job.

They got the right person.

What he knows is nothing

compared to what it is to be done out here.

Working with someone,

especially when they try to change things,

I don't like that.

[brooding light jazz music]

We'll have to see if it turns out to be good or bad.

[Tony chuckling]

[brooding light jazz music continues]

[music concludes]

[Radio Voice] Tonight will be clear and cool

with a low of 60 in midtown,

but down to 52 in some suburbs.

Right now, 64 degrees and sunny in New York.

I'm gonna tell you something, George.

The key to getting a job

is to get the job done, and done right.

I already know how to change cylinders.

I've been a locksmith for the last two years in Florida.

You never worked on a lock in the city, George.

You gotta learn

how to deal with the people of the city, also.

[Radio voice continues indistinctly]

[birds chirping]

This lock by itself is $250.

Oh.

[resident groaning]

So this key would not work anymore.

He's, you're gonna have new keys for this.

I paid 250, three years ago.

Ma'am.

I'm now cheaper.

Listen, I'll give you your money back

because I'm not gonna stand here and argue with you.

You know? Nobody do like you.

Ma'am.

I'll try to save you and keep it at the same price.

And you don't want that.

There's nothing else I could do.

But give me cheaper.

No, no, no, no. I can't do that.

I'll pay you.

If you give us another $60, you have to give another $60,

we can put a new one.

I give you 50 more,

and that's all, okay?

It's a lot of work, right? [customer haggling]

Listen. Hm.

Okay. Okay. Just another 50 more.

We can do it, right?

'Cause it's a lot of wasting time.

Explanation going on.

[customer speaking in a foreign language]

[key rattling]

Had I had not been with you, Yes.

What would you have done?

Oh, what do you mean, What I would do?

I would do the same thing.

Well hold it right there.

I'm the locksmith that goes in,

gets the job done and get out.

I ain't got time to play games.

And when they start that game playing,

I tell 'em, Sorry, you can call somebody else.

I didn't wanna be there no longer.

That's why I took over.

That's why I told you, Finish putting the locks on.

[George] Oh, that's why, I mean-

Because actually, it's going be a problem.

[ice cream truck jingle playing]

Key, locksmith.

[intercom ringing]

[Intercom Voice] Hello?

It's the locksmith, open the door.

[door buzzing]

[drill whirring]

I was born in Georgia, the Republic of Georgia,

and moved to US when I was 14 years old.

I grew up in South Brooklyn, in Brighton Beach.

[gentle guitar music]

Before here,

I was working as a locksmith in Florida for three years.

My van was stolen with my equipment

and I basically lost everything that I had.

I actually almost quit locksmithing.

I came back to Brooklyn.

[drill whirring]

[gentle guitar music continues]

This is not only like, a job for me.

This is like, opportunity to own a business.

Maybe I'll be able to own this business.

If not this, I'll start my own shop.

George! Yes.

It's like my father's calling.

What you gotta try and do with George now...

Yeah.

... Is when you go somewhere,

let him ascertain.

That's what I do. What happens?

Say, George, this door's fuckin' doing it.

Sit back.

You're getting old anyway.

Sit back.

[Matthew laughing]

Relax yourself.

Relax yourself.

Let George handle it.

Let's, and then when it's something, if he does it, fine.

If he doesn't do it, then you explain,

It's this and that,

and why it's this and that and that.

And then, don't you do it.

Let him do it.

But explain to him.

How to do it, or what. Right.

[people chattering indistinctly on the street]

[cars honking]

Yeah. It's very simple,

as long as you got me with you.

Now we're gonna throw you out in that water

and you're going have to swim for yourself.

[upbeat jazz music]

That's the man I'm training, right there.

Well that's a big difference.

Yeah.

A man in training is...

There's no comparison to 40 something years of experience.

[upbeat jazz music continues]

Yeah. This is the locksmith.

I'm at the front door.

George can do it,

but George's head is a little hard.

I just came in, right?

I never used these machines before-

But hold on, you came in,

asked for a locksmith job

and said you was a locksmith.

You getting mad right now?

Huh? You getting mad right now.

[Matthew] I ain't getting mad.

Yes you are.

And he don't pay attention enough.

When I'm gone, that's when he's gonna realize,

I should have listened to everything he had to say

before he left.

Is he gonna be ready when you're gone?

Put all that stuff in his head.

[Tony laughing]

I know Tony's going to retire, too.

So I have this in my head

that I'm gonna own this business one day.

I know a lot of young guys, they're fine.

They're willing to learn.

But a lot of them, it's Me, me, me.

Now, now, now. They want everything now.

They don't want to work for it.

They just want it now.

[cash register dinging]

What do you think about these young folks?

They want to replace everything.

They ain't gonna repair nothing.

Easy way, right?

Yeah.

[saw grinding]

We're gonna have to spread that track a little bit.

You hold it this way, right?

Yeah. And go like you're screwing the screw in.

Right there.

Straight out.

Okay. Try that.

[door slamming shut]

That's the way to approach that lock.

[traffic rumbling]

[pedestrians chattering indistinctly]

[sirens blaring in the distance]

[car horn honking]

[paper rustling]

[sirens blaring in the distance]

[van gently rattling]

Now let me ask you this one question.

I wanted to ask you this.

I was home and I'm thinking about, to ask you.

You chose locksmith as your career, right?

At some point in your life.

Mm-hm.

Could you have done something better than this?

What you did?

No. This was my best choice.

I was born hard of hearing.

That's one of the things that hindered me in school.

And when I speak,

if you notice, my words are different from the word itself.

Because I speak like I hear.

Certain words, I can't even pronounce right,

because of my hearing.

It affected my life a lot.

But I accept it for what it is.

[Matthew exhaling]

[Radio Voice] Good afternoon [indistinct]

You came into this business at a good time.

I can remember when I was a little boy,

locksmiths, they changed tires on bicycles

and people left their doors open, really.

So the locksmith starved.

Today, the locksmith earns good money

because through the years, crime increased.

It's a shame, but that's what happened.

And what happens?

The locksmith capitalizes on crime.

Talking about crime,

that door.

When you start working here, that door over there,

make sure it's always locked.

I'm gonna tell you a little story

that happened over 20 years ago.

I'm in here by myself.

All that LEXAN and plexiglass is not up.

Young kid comes in, maybe in his early twenties,

pointing a gun at me

and shaking, probably his first job.

Two other guys come in right behind him.

One goes by the front door, don't let nobody in.

The other guy stands at the other end of the counter.

I says, Oh, this kid's dangerous, man.

'Cause he's scared and he's shaken.

So I told him, Listen, I'm not the owner,

and I don't care what you take.

Open the register for them, give them the money.

One guy comes behind the counter,

made me get down on my knees.

I had a gold chain on my neck.

He ripped the chain off my neck.

They ripped all the wires out,

for the phone system,

so I couldn't make no calls after they left,

and they left.

When I looked up, what did I see?

Jesus Christ on a cross that I had hanging on the wall.

And it's still hanging up there today.

I left it there.

And I'm glad nothing happened.

[birds chirping]

[somber guitar music]

10 years ago,

I felt I'm not gonna be alive in 10 years.

I'm not gonna be here in 10 years.

[somber guitar music continues]

[can spraying]

[key rattling]

I was that kind of kid

that wanted to be in the streets 24/7.

The first time I did serious drugs was

when I was 17 years old.

By the time I was 18,

I already was in detox, trying to quit.

[lock rattling]

[door creaking]

This job and everything keeps me away from that.

This is the confirmation number.

Alright, take care.

Hope I won't have to do this again.

I'm living a new life, a different life.

[music concludes]

So how is everything going, George?

With the love affair, everything all right?

Yeah. Still sticking to one,

or you trying to play the field, still?

No, I'm sticking to one.

She probably feels good about it.

I hope she feels that I'm just sticking to her.

When I was George's age,

you wouldn't have wanted to know me.

You wouldn't have liked me.

I didn't even like me.

[somber music]

George, I'm the type of dude,

if there wasn't a fight

on Friday or Saturday night when I'm out,

You would start it?

I would start it.

Yeah. I'd start it.

I had to have a fight, and I don't know why.

It was in me.

I did shit,

sometimes I think back, it scares me.

[door creaking]

Let me get you a new handle.

Okay.

It's 'cause it's spinning around.

Gotcha. But this is working fine.

Okay. I tightened it up

a little more.

[key clacking]

[key jingling]

Are you looking for a job?

You wanna work?

No?

What is that called?

You don't know what's called?

What?

Oh!

You see people differently,

when you enter their house, you see their life.

[child chattering playfully and indistinctly]

See the kids, wife, you know?

I mean, you know, it goes on and on and on.

Would you like some soda, or some water or something?

[George] Yes, please.

Soda? Water? Water.

Water.

[water trickling]

[gentle music]

You wanna go take this to Mr. George? Thank you.

Don't drink it.

Here.

Thank you.

To tell you the truth,

you know, I was always wanted to meet somebody like Matthew,

because I never had nobody teach me nothing.

Every day you learn stuff.

How you doing?

[rain pattering]

[knocking on van window]

[van door creaking open]

[van ignition dinging]

[rain drops pattering]

Open the door.

[door thudding]

Okay.

Oh.

[door slamming shut]

Woo.

[George] It's cold out.

George, my first impression when I first met you

was that, This man would be able to

three-quarters fill my space.

Then, once I took you out,

and Tony asked me, What do you think, Matthew?

I said, I think he's the man for the job.

You're the man for the job.

[rain drops tapping lightly on windshield]

[rain drops dripping]

[birds chirping]

[ball slapping pavement]

Thank you, football!

You see? Who said magic doesn't happen?

Thank you, God.

[gentle instrumental music]

When you are younger,

you feel like you've got more to live for.

[ball bouncing]

You feel like the whole world is in front of you.

But after a while, you go to getting older,

and older, and older,

[door creaking open]

your vision gets shorter.

[hammer gently tapping]

You start looking more to God than you do to this earth.

[instrumental music continues]

[door slamming shut]

11-D, right? Yes.

Take that one out, and put the new one in.

That key doesn't work.

Which one are you changing?

Bottom or top? The bottom only.

Bottom. I hope.

I'm getting crazy with these locks and keys.

Look who's up there.

You like Frank Sinatra?

I like him.

I come from the same town as him.

I was born on the same street as him.

[instrumental music]

3:46 AM, I saw the time when they tried to get in.

I had a big heavy chair behind that door.

How did they get in?

I'm sick of it.

Sick.

What was your name again?

Matthew. Is that it?

Wait. Is that right?

What happened?

Was it Matthew, your name?

Yeah, Matthew.

Oh, I do remember!

But they call me, Matt, for short.

Oh.

And the only thing I'm trying to do now

is to hold on

and I don't wanna rush.

I want to stay around as long as I can.

But when it's time to go, it's time to go.

[gentle music]

[gentle music fades out]

[sprinkler sputtering]

[birds chirping]

Tony, how's Brooklyn now,

it doesn't change, right?

[Tony] Brooklyn's getting...

You're getting a lot of white kids coming back.

You know, late twenties, early thirties.

They called them, the millenniums

Oh, okay.

[dart thudding]

You know, despite of all the hard times,

we had good times together, too.

[Tony] Oh, absolutely.

A lot of good laughing days.

[Tony] Yeah.

[TV Voice] House correspondent Jim Acosta standing by,

Jimmy, I understand you have some breaking news.

Alright, say, Hello to your family for me, and-

[Tony] Likewise, likewise.

You do the same.

Okay. And you take care now.

[Tony] Thanks for calling.

I appreciate it.

Okay now, Tony.

[Tony] Talk to you soon.

All right, bye now.

[Tony] Bye.

[phone receiver clicking]

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

[train rumbling]

[Sophia's Mom] Do you wanna play with the keys, Sophia?

Yeah. Yeah?

By changing just the cylinder,

you don't have to change the whole lock.

Now if you want to change the whole lock,

we can change the whole-

Da-da? Yeah, baby girl.

[conversation fades out]

[train rumbling]

[gentle instrumental music]

[neighbors chattering indistinctly]

[uplifting instrumental music]

[Tony's Wife] I think I'm the president of the household.

You're also smarter than I am.

[Tony's wife chuckling]

You're much smarter than I am.

Yeah, of course, look what you did.

Look what you did.

You married me.

[Tony's wife laughing]

See how smart you are?

[Tony chuckling]

[gentle instrumental music]

[gentle instrumental music continues]

[Matthew's Family Member] Matt!

[gentle instrumental music]

[Matthew's family happily chattering indistinctly]

'Cause she could give me my tuition slip back!

[Matthew's family happily chattering indistinctly]

[uplifting instrumental music concludes]

[silence]

[gentle instrumental music]

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[gentle instrumental music concludes]