After Thefts, Security Added For Open Houses

At least one apartment building on the Upper East Side is beefing up its security in response to the thieves that stole jewelry and prescription drugs from four apartments during open houses over the past several weeks.

Security guards at Ruppert Yorkville Towers Condominium, which has 1,258 apartments, are now requiring all people visiting open houses to sign in and show identification, the director of security for the building, Daniel McCaffrey, said.

"I never heard of this kind of theft until I read the papers," Mr. McCaffrey, a former detective in the New York Police Department's intelligence division, said. "I'm telling all tenants to secure their valuables."

A guard at the front desk writes down each guest's name, address, and telephone number, he said.

Mr. McCaffrey said he would like to set up the building to operate like many commercial lobbies, with a camera and identification scanning equipment.

The Ruppert Yorkville Towers Condominium may not be alone in reassessing its security protocols in light of the thefts. Buildings throughout the city are reviewing their security policies, the director of management at Halstead, Paul Gottsegen, said.

Mr. Gottsegen is telling each of the 80 buildings that Halstead manages to increase security by ensuring there are always two brokers at each open house and using more forms to track activity.

"It's about simple controls," he said. "You need to know in advance what to expect."

The ramping up of security comes after two women, Jennifer Jones, 33, and Jessica Joyner, 39, were charged with looting high-end apartments of prescription drugs and jewelry. The two are wanted for questioning in similarly set up theft at an open house in Saddle River, N.J., police said.

Brokers are also being more vigilant about security in open houses, a senior vice president at Bellmarc, Rachel Koenig, said.

"I would feel horrible if something like that happened while I was showing an apartment," Ms. Koenig said. "With an awareness of what happened, we are thinking a little differently."