Video Surviellence & Security Cameras

A camera system is only worth what you can do with the footage. We install commercial video surveillance and CCTV that actually gets used — coverage mapped to your building, clear images day and night, remote viewing that works from your phone, and recordings you can pull when something happens.


We do new IP installs, analog-to-IP upgrades, and takeovers of camera systems another company left behind, across Queens, the Bronx, and Westchester.


We are City Electric & Communications, a family-owned low-voltage shop in Jamaica, Queens, doing this work since the 1990s. Our quality control team inspects every install, so the layout you get is one we would stand behind on our own building — not a box of cameras dropped on a wall.

Send us your building type and what you need to see — we'll map coverage before quoting

Three Camera Services
New Installs, Upgrades, and Takeovers

Most camera problems come down to poor planning, bad cabling, or a system a previous contractor walked away from. We handle all three situations.

New Commercial Installs

We walk your building, map camera coverage to what actually matters — entries, loading docks, cash areas, corridors — and run properly labeled Cat6 or coax before placing a single camera. You get the right count in the right places, not the maximum count we can sell you.

Analog-to-IP Upgrades

If you have a working analog system with good cabling, you may not need to start over. We assess what is worth keeping, swap the cameras and DVR for IP equipment, and retain your existing cable runs wherever possible. The result is higher resolution and remote access without a full rip-and-replace.

Camera System Takeovers

Inherited a system another company installed and stopped supporting? We document what is there, identify what still works, replace only what has failed or is failing, and take over ongoing maintenance. No obligation to scrap working equipment — we keep what earns its place.

Why most camera systems disappoint (and what we do differently)

The two failures we see over and over: footage too grainy to identify anyone, and a system nobody can access when the police ask for video. Both come from the same root — cameras chosen and placed to fill a quote, not to solve a sightline.


A cheap dome pointed at a wide-open parking lot gives you a blurry shape at 40 feet. A camera bolted where the wire was easy to run, instead of where the doorway is, watches the wrong three feet of the room.


We start the opposite way: with a walk of your building. We look at every entrance, register, loading dock, stockroom door, and blind corner, and we figure out what each camera actually needs to capture — a face at the door, a license plate at the gate, the aisle where shrinkage happens. Then we pick the camera and lens for that job and map the runs to match. That is why two warehouses of the same size can need very different systems.

What a camera install actually involves, step by step


First, the coverage walk and a written camera map — where each camera goes, what it watches, and why. Second, cabling: we run Cat6 from each camera location back to a central point, usually a small rack or closet, keeping runs under the ~300-foot Ethernet limit and adding a switch or extender where a warehouse or long corridor pushes past it.


Clean, labeled cabling is half the job; it is the same structured cabling discipline everything else in the building rides on. Third, we mount and aim cameras — height and angle matter more than the spec sheet, especially for faces near doors.


Fourth, we set up the NVR: recording schedules, motion zones, retention, and user logins. Fifth, we configure secure remote viewing so you and only the people you choose can see the cameras from a phone or laptop. Last, our quality control team inspects it, and we walk you through pulling and exporting clips yourself.


"Flexible scheduling and great followup after visit." — Jeffrey M., HomeAdvisor

How many cameras your building actually needs


Fewer than a salesperson will tell you, usually. The right count comes from choke points, not square footage. A small storefront is often well covered by four to eight cameras: the entrance for faces, the register, the back door, and the sales floor. A mid-size office might run eight to sixteen — lobby, each entry, server room, and main corridors.


Warehouses are about the perimeter, dock doors, and high-value aisles, and a handful of higher-resolution cameras placed right will beat twenty cheap ones. We would rather quote you the six cameras that cover what matters than pad the count. If a corner genuinely does not need watching, we leave it alone.

Commercial Buildings We Wire for Cameras

This service is built for commercial operators — owners and managers of buildings with real security exposure and footage that has to be retrievable. If you manage one of these building types, we already know your situation.

Storefronts & Retail

Entry coverage, POS area, back-of-house, and parking — configured for footage you can actually hand to police.

Warehouses & Distribution

Wide-area coverage, loading dock entries, interior aisles — with remote monitoring so ownership can verify operations off-site.

Offices & Multi-Tenant Buildings

Lobby, stairwells, elevator cabs, and floor entries — often tied into access control so you have a full entry record.

Multi-Unit Residential & Mixed-Use

Shared entries, parking, mail areas, and laundry — cameras placed to cover tenant-reported problem spots.

Healthcare Facilities

Waiting rooms, corridors, restricted areas, and medication storage — integrated with access control and intercom. See our dedicated healthcare page .

Construction Sites

Temporary or semi-permanent setups for active sites — deterrence coverage and remote check-in for project managers who aren't on-site daily.

Remote viewing, night vision, and how long footage is kept


Every system we install is set up for remote viewing — a phone or desktop app, secured so it is not open to the internet. You see live and recorded video, get motion alerts if you want them, and export clips without calling us.


For night, most commercial cameras use infrared and hold up fine in a dark lot or stockroom; where lighting is truly bad or you need color at night, we spec cameras built for low light.


Retention depends on the number of cameras, resolution, frame rate, and NVR drive size — most commercial sites land around 30 days, and we can push to 60 or 90 for compliance or insurance by sizing the drives up front. We tell you the real number your hardware will hold, not a best-case one.

Upgrades, takeovers, and tying cameras into the rest of the building


You rarely have to gut a building to modernize. In many cases we reuse existing cable pathways, keep cameras that still perform, and swap only the weak points — a classic analog-to-IP retrofit.


If another company installed your system and vanished, we can adopt it: see system takeovers & maintenance.


Cameras also work best alongside the rest of the stack — we tie them to access control so a badged entry pulls up the door camera, and to alarm systems for verified alarms. We install across Queens, the Bronx, and Westchester.


Your Security Questions Answered

Frequently Asked Questions About Commercial Security Cameras

  • How much does a commercial security camera system cost in NYC?

    For a straightforward commercial IP system, most Queens and Bronx jobs land somewhere around $1,200–$2,500 per camera installed — that includes the camera, cabling, mounting, a share of the NVR, and setup. A small storefront with four to eight cameras often runs $5,000–$12,000; larger offices and warehouses go up from there. What moves the price is camera count and resolution, cable run difficulty (open ceiling vs. fishing through finished walls or concrete), how much retention you need, and whether we are extending or replacing existing wiring. We give a firm number after walking the site — call 718-577-8339.

  • Can you upgrade my old analog cameras to IP without rewiring everything?

    Often, yes. In many buildings, the existing camera locations and cable pathways are reusable, and there are converters and hybrid recorders that let IP and analog run side by side while you transition. This means we can upgrade the cameras that matter most first and phase the rest, instead of one big rip-out. We will only recommend full rewiring where the old cable genuinely can't carry what you need. Ask us to assess it.

  • How many cameras does my building actually need?

    It depends on choke points, not floor area. We count entrances, registers, docks, high-value areas, and real blind spots, then place cameras to capture identifiable detail at each — a face at the door, a plate at the gate. A small shop may need four to eight; a warehouse might be well covered by a dozen placed correctly. We quote the count that covers what matters and tell you where you don't need a camera. Book a coverage walk to get the exact number.

  • Can I view the cameras from my phone?

    Yes. Every system we install includes secure remote viewing from a phone or computer — live video, recorded playback, and optional motion alerts, with logins limited to the people you approve. We set it up so the cameras are not exposed to the open internet, and we show you how to pull and export a clip yourself before we leave. If your current system won't let you view remotely, that alone is usually worth a takeover call.

  • How long is footage stored?

    Most commercial systems we install retain around 30 days, but the real number depends on camera count, resolution, frame rate, and how large we size the NVR drives. If you need 60 or 90 days for insurance or compliance, we plan the storage for that up front rather than surprising you later. We will tell you exactly how many days your hardware will actually hold. Call  718-577-8339 to size it for your site.

Get Commercial Cameras Mapped to Your Building

Tell us what you need to see. We will walk the building, map the coverage, keep what still works, and quote only the cameras that earn their place.

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