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"Everyone always wants to change their locks when they change their apartments," says Eddie's sister, Myrna Rios, who works with her brother as a locksmith. A new lock costs approximately $140 in total: $75 for service and $65 for the hardware. To copy a set of keys costs between $4.25 and $10.50 per key, depending on the model. The brother and sister team has been in the home-security industry for 28 years and at their store just north of Soho for the past 20 years. Over time, the appearance of the neighborhood has changed, but as long as there are businesses and apartments, the Rios family will have work. Myrna says that she receives at least three calls a day for new locks, and a number of clients who just walk in off the street to make an appointment. "We get a lot of NYU students who lose their keys," says Myrna. It usually happens when they're out partying, she says. Myrna always tells people who find themselves locked out of their homes in the middle of the night that it is cheaper to find somewhere else to sleep than to call a locksmith. "If you call someone at two o'clock a.m., they're going to charge you two o'clock a.m. prices." Myrna knows of one woman who was charged $600 by a locksmith who did a house call in the middle of the night. "And they want to be paid in cash," Myrna says. Myrna is full of home-security advice for New Yorkers. Be skeptical about the doorman, the handyman and the superintendent, she says. "They know when you leave and they know when you come back," she says. Don't give them too much personal information, either. Myrna says that the people who work in apartment buildings are often implicated in burglaries that occur in the building. If you must give a key to the superintendent, put it in an envelope and sign your name across the seal, she advises. That way, if something happens, you can ask for the envelope back and if the seal has been broken you'll know something suspicious is going on. Myrna and her brother sell almost every conceivable form of home protection in their shop, including alarm systems, dead bolts, cameras, video intercoms and jay bars. But most people just buy locks, says Myrna. At least at first. After being burglarized, however, "they want everything: alarms, locks and window gates," she says. Most people who buy alarms want one that makes a lot of noise, even though there are more discreet models that alert only the police station and the alarm company. "They want deterrence," she says. "People don't care about the neighbors." New York City does have a law, however, that states that no alarm may sound for more than 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, it must automatically switch off and reset itself. The best protection, however, is to get informed before moving into a new building or a new neighborhood. Don't just listen to the real-estate agent, says Myrna. "They don't tell people about break-ins. They're trying to sell the space." Go to the local police precinct and ask about your building. They'll know if there have been any burglaries, and when. Even a local locksmith will know. Myrna knows which buildings in her neighborhood are secure, and which are easy targets. "You just have to be careful," she says.
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is cuckoo," says Eddie Rios, co-owner of RBD Lock and Alarm,
located near the corner of Bleecker Street and Broadway, next to
New York University's downtown campus. He is referring to the high
turnover rate of rental apartments in the city, and the amount of
business that it brings in. 
