That jumble of metal in your pocket does more than just get you through the front door! 🔑
In a city defined by personal style, even the most functional objects can make a statement.
One West Village storefront has been turning the everyday key into a small, personal sculpture for decades.
Where security meets sculpture
Forget the impersonal buzz of a hardware store duplicating machine.
At Greenwich Locksmiths, each key is an exercise in skill and patience— and owner Phil Mortillaro and his son, Philip Jr., are the masterminds behind the West Village institution.
Phil has been a fixture of the neighborhood since 1980, though his love for the trade started at age 14.
While they handle high-tech security and expert safecracking (Phil has worked for everyone from the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security), it’s their “art keys” that have captured the internet’s heart.
These aren’t just stamped out; they are meticulously handcrafted.
Mortillaro takes a standard blank and, using a combination of hand-filing, welding, and carving, merges it with decorative elements—often the heads of vintage skeleton keys or custom-cast shapes.
The result? A functional tool that looks like it belongs in a Victorian manor or a fantasy epic.
This dedication to a manual process has made the shop a New York institution and even landed it a cameo in the film Men in Black II.
The smallest building with the biggest personality
The shop itself is as much of a character as the men inside!
Located at 56 7th Avenue South, it is officially the smallest freestanding building in Manhattan, measuring a tiny 125 square feet. It’s a triangular sliver of history that was originally built as a tire repair shop in 1921.
You can’t miss it: the entire facade is a swirling, metallic mosaic made of over 10,000 recycled keys.
Phil spent two years welding the keys into patterns inspired by Van Gogh’s The Starry Night and the abstract drips of Jackson Pollock. Look closely at the entrance and you’ll find two massive safes nicknamed Patience and Fortitude, a nod to the iconic lions guarding the New York Public Library.
Where: 56 7th Avenue South, West Village
When: Monday – Friday, 9 am – 6 pm