private keyed elevators

Anyone that I know (myself included) with an elevator opening directly into the apartment has a locking door or steel gate inside the elevator door, and an alarm.

we have a second lock on the elavator double (2nd) door. We did not like the the look of an iron gate or an additional door. We feel very safe but it took time to get use too. On the other hand being in a small lofy building with no neighbour on your floor is an amazingly private (yet secure) feeling of having a house in the city.

So, while your getting in the elevator from the ground, your up stairs neighbor joins you in the elevator. The elevator first stops on your floor and it opens up directly into your apartment. Your son/husband/cousin/whoever just happens to be strolling in their tighty-whiteys for your neighbors to see?

Or, am I not picturing this type of elevator right?

I would put create a mini-vestibule/mudroom for that reason.

I'm not familiar with them but I've often wondered about how they work. Theoretically someone doesn't get into the lobby unless you've buzzed them in but how do you know they have arrived at your floor to unlock the door? Oh, the angst!

usually when an elevator opens into your 4000sqf space, your significant other can not be seen or found.

007 rofl...

What if you ring for elevator and wait for it in your apartment so you can leave, and it comes and total sketch dude is in the elevator? You've basically opened the door of your home to any stranger someone else let into the lift? I don't think I like this idea in practice at all. Actually, I don't like living without a doorman at all. I know people who have fab multi million $$ lofts in buildings with no doormen and I just don't get what the draw is. There are lofts with doormen, too. Why get one without?

I would contact a security company and discuss your options at various price points.

I don't think you're being paranoid, and I too am not fond of the steel gate solution I've seen in lofts.

But there are a lot of sophisticated security strategies these days that are unobtrusive and if you love the place, it might be worth checking out.

forgot to mention the cameras and the internal tv screen next to the loft's elavator door which has at least 4 different views, inside elavator, outside elavator, outside external door, waiting for elavator etc.

For one, most buildings of the sort that would have this set up have very few units. I probably see someone in my elevator once a month. And, the elevator makes a sound in the apartment when the key-locked button is pushed so there are no surprise entries. For guests, you can either temporarily unlock the elevator or press a button that retrieves the elevator.

What if you are along standing in your hallway, and some total sketch dude is in the elevator when it opens? Sketch dude is no less likely to pummel you and/or let himself in your apartment. Sketch dude also would set off the alarm in my apartment if he tried to enter or prevent me from leaving.

I think it is a security and privacy vulnerability for the reasons outlined above by various posters, and I personally would put in some door/gate you could slide across, at least at night when you go to bed, or leave town.

A friend in Wmburg in a ten unit building has it open in his apartment in the living room with no gate or anything. A couple other pretty annoying things about this setup: you REALLY hear the elevator hoisting noises when it is going up and down when other people use it (at least in the case of my friend where the unit opens into the main living room)...and you hear the elevator PING noise when other people are using it.

Oh and yea I forgot to mention that my German shepherd generally frowns upon sketch dudes that may wish to enter the apartment.

this whole thing is so awkward

I agree with the idea of a security company coming in to discuss options. I have an elevator key that bypasses the keyed entry system in the elevator. I put my key in and press a button, any floor and the elevator goes directly there. While I am holding open the door the elevator will not move. If the wrong person got that key they could disable cams(do you have a security person monitoring this 24/7?) then use the elevator as a platform to defeat your locks in private with no one being able to stop them. Keeping the elevator hoist door open allows them to control the elector completely. Not a good situation, but look on the bright side that will probably not happen to you. BTW the key I have is easy to obtain and can be copied in Home Depot or any locksmith, they are widely distributed.