Installation. Replacement.
Queens · Brooklyn · Manhattan.
1,400+ installs. 4.9-star rated. Free quotes.
Walk any block in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, or Manhattan and you'll step over them. That heavy steel door set flat into the sidewalk — the one that swings open to reveal a staircase down into the basement below — is a sidewalk door, also called a sidewalk hatch, gate, grate, or cellar hatch.
In New York City they are everywhere: under storefronts in Astoria, beside brownstone stoops in Park Slope, flush against the curb on Broadway. They are as much a part of NYC's infrastructure as fire hydrants and subway grates.
A bulkhead door is the angled cousin — the sloped steel doors at the side or rear of a home, common on row houses in Queens and older neighborhoods in the outer boroughs. Both open to the basement. The difference is form factor and waterproofing.
In NYC, commercial basement doors are built to support pedestrian traffic. Standard residential cellar doors are a different spec. When in doubt — call us and describe what you have. We'll tell you what you need.
Whether you're a property owner dealing with a rusted-out sidewalk hatch, a contractor specifying new commercial staircase access, or a homeowner replacing the old cellar door on your Queens house — this site exists to give you straight answers with zero fluff.
Every door we make is custom fabricated. No stock sizes. No catalog covers. Most customers measure their own opening and get a quote over the phone — it's that straightforward. For complex or non-standard jobs, we'll come out to you. Either way, we build it to fit your opening. Whether your opening is 2'×3' or 6'×8', we fabricate to fit. That's the job.
Looking for sidewalk grates? Many customers call asking for a "sidewalk grate" or "street grate" — the heavy steel grid panels set flush into city sidewalks and near curbs. Those are steel grates, and yes, we handle them. Sidewalk grates and sidewalk doors often appear side by side on the same installation — a flat hatch door for access, a steel grate panel for ventilation or drainage alongside it. If you're describing something with a grid pattern you can see through, that's a grate. If it's solid steel that opens, that's a door. Either way, call us.
3/16" steel diamond plate — the NYC standard for commercial and residential installations. The raised pattern provides grip and sheds water in all conditions.
3"×3"×1/4" welded angle iron fabricated to fit your opening. Every frame is custom-cut and welded — not bent to fit a standard size. Done right, it outlasts everything else.
Heavy-duty internal solid bar hinges welded to doors and secured behind frames make the whole thing one unit. Panels open past vertical and rest on the frame — keeping them clear during loading.
Options: recessed hasps for padlocks, pentahead bolt-downs, or staple-style. NYC commercial applications typically require two lock points minimum.
Required when doors are used for ventilation or held open. Prevents doors from closing on users.
Steel mesh inner doors secure the opening from pedestrians while allowing full ventilation. Common on commercial storefronts requiring airflow.
We don't sell standard covers off a shelf. Every door is custom fabricated to fit your opening — because NYC's pre-war buildings never came with standard openings.
The standard NYC commercial sidewalk hatch. Flush with the walking surface. Steel diamond plate panels, angle iron frame, rated for 300 lbs/sf pedestrian load. Found on virtually every storefront block in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.
Commercial · ResidentialAlso called a bulkhead door — the angled steel door set against the foundation wall, providing backyard or side-yard access to the basement below. The workhorse of residential NYC. Extremely common on Queens and Bronx homes, Brooklyn brownstones, and row houses throughout the outer boroughs. Works for single-family homes, multi-family buildings, and any property where direct outdoor basement access is needed.
Residential · Queens · Bronx · BrooklynHeavy-duty vault covers engineered for vehicle load — not just foot traffic. Required for sidewalk doors adjacent to loading docks or anywhere a vehicle could cross. Reinforced panel construction, heavier gauge steel, deeper frame.
Heavy CommercialA major upgrade over traditional manual steel hatches. The hydraulic assist opens the door in one smooth motion — no strain, no sudden drops. Custom-fabricated to exact site dimensions with hydraulics calibrated to the individual door's weight. Built for restaurants, retail storefronts, and any property where the door gets opened daily. Tamper-resistant, low-profile, and NYC-tough.
By Steel Masters NYC ↗Our exclusive design. A semi-flat door raised 3 inches above grade with a full waterproof seal — keeps water out without the full slope of a bulkhead. Built for properties that need weather protection without a traditional angled door. Custom fabricated, steel construction, NYC-tough.
Exclusive · Waterproof · Any SizeThis is what separates us from everyone else. Non-standard opening? Off-angle? Irregular masonry that's been patched a dozen times? Every single door we make is custom fabricated to fit your opening. We don't carry stock sizes. We don't force standard doors into spaces they don't belong. You give us the dimensions or we come out — we build it to fit. Period. Everything built in Brooklyn, New York. Nothing outsourced or imported. All American made.
Any Size · Any Shape · Any SpecNYC sidewalk doors and cellar doors are not a generic product. Each borough has its own building stock, code enforcement culture, and installation challenges.
Brooklyn's brownstone belt — Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Bed-Stuy — is dense with sloped cellar doors on residential properties. Most are original to the building and decades overdue for replacement. The challenge here is masonry: old, repaired, non-standard openings that require custom fabrication. Every job gets measured on-site — NYC's pre-war masonry means nothing is truly standard.
Manhattan is the commercial sidewalk door capital of NYC. Almost every block of storefronts has multiple sidewalk hatches servicing basement storage, electrical rooms, and loading access. These doors are under constant foot traffic — sometimes tens of thousands of pedestrians daily. Fast turnaround and precision installation are the standard here.
Queens and the Bronx share the same residential reality: block after block of attached and semi-detached homes with sloped bulkhead doors in the backyard — original to the building, decades overdue. Jackson Heights, Astoria, Flushing, Pelham Bay, Fordham — these neighborhoods have some of the highest residential bulkhead replacement demand in the city. Homeowners need backyard basement access that works, seals properly, and holds up through NYC winters. Many jobs here also require a steel staircase below the door — for those we refer directly to our fabrication partner Steel Masters NYC.
Our reach extends beyond the five boroughs. We serve Westchester County, Long Island, and Northern New Jersey — anywhere NYC-quality custom steel door work is needed. Same custom fabrication, same steel construction, same turnaround. Call us with your location and job details.
Every job is different. These ranges reflect real NYC installations — materials, labor, and site work included. The best way to know your number is to call us.
Difficult access, tight sidewalk clearance, or a non-standard opening all affect installation time. We assess every site before quoting.
We don't sell standard covers. Every door is built to fit your opening. Pre-war buildings, irregular masonry, patched openings — it doesn't matter. We measure, we fabricate, we install. No forcing stock sizes where they don't belong.
Most standard jobs are scheduled and completed within the same week. Custom fabrication adds lead time — typically one to two weeks from measurement to install.
Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten Island. We quote and install throughout the NYC metro area. Call us with your location and job details.
Many jobs can be quoted over the phone with a few measurements and photos. For complex or non-standard openings, we send someone out. Either way — no charge, no obligation.
Every door we install is steel. It's the only material that holds up to NYC sidewalks, NYC weather, and NYC use.
Over 1,400 installations across the five boroughs. Here's what property owners, contractors, and building managers have to say.
Replaced a completely rusted-out sidewalk hatch on my Park Slope brownstone. The crew showed up on time, cut the old frame clean, and had the new door in by early afternoon. No concrete mess left behind. Door sits perfectly flush — looks like it's always been there.
I manage a 12-unit commercial building on Northern Boulevard. Two sidewalk doors needed replacement. They scheduled both installs same day, showed up on time, and wrapped up before end of business. Professional and efficient.
Our Tribeca restaurant needed a new sidewalk door — fast turnaround, couldn't have the sidewalk access open for long. They came out same week, measured on-site, and installed. Clean work, no issues.
Custom job on a 1920s rowhouse in Astoria — the opening was completely non-standard, previous owner had it patched with concrete at some point. They measured it properly, fabricated to fit, and installed it clean. Three other companies told me it couldn't be done standard. These guys didn't flinch.
Needed a cellar door replacement in Crown Heights on short notice. Called Monday, assessed Tuesday, installed Thursday. That kind of turnaround in NYC is rare. Door looks and works perfectly.
I've used them for three properties now — two in Bushwick and one on Flatbush. Consistent quality every time. The doors they put on my residential buildings have held up perfectly. No rust, no issues, and my tenants can open them without a struggle.
Tell us what you need. Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan — all five boroughs. Every door custom fabricated to fit your opening. We'll get you a quote fast.
No pressure. No spam. Just a straight answer on what your job will take and what it will cost.
We'll be in touch within one business day.
For urgent jobs, call us directly:
(929) 365-7052
