How the secret room hidden behind this bookcase reveals the fear gripping America's wealthiest homeowners

New York City's wealthy elite are building elaborate secret panic rooms in their glitzy mansions amid fears over soaring crime in the Big Apple.

The trend of millionaires installing electrified door handles, rooms that fire pepper spray outwards and ballistic-grade walls to save them from intruders trying to break in is being repeated across America. 

These pictures show just some of the crafty designs built into bookcases, stairs and fireplaces in fancy neighborhoods such as Park Avenue and the West Village.

It comes as the rich and famous cower from criminals across New York City, which has seen crime spiral over the past few years.

Rigdon's panic rooms start at $50,000, and it could cost up to $1 million to fortify luxury apartments in New York City

Comedian Joan Rivers and actress Gwyneth Paltrow have reportedly had panic rooms

New York Magazine reports that Bill Rigdon is the person mega-rich Manhattanites call when they want a closet that locks from the inside with electrified door handles.

Rigdon, who also deals in yachts, armored vehicles and art, said he had a person who worked at Fox News as a client - and his fittings start from $50,000.

'I once had a Fox News reporter who had a whole plan for a basement bunker where 13, 14 people could stay for a period of time,' Rigdon said.

Rigdon said his business of building hidden bunkers inside New York City apartments is booming as more and more affluent city dwellers feel the five boroughs are doomed.

One panic-room business owner, Steve Humble of Creative Home Engineering, told the magazine that he saw a marked uptick in business specifically in New York when the Black Lives Matter protests erupted across the country in the summer of 2020.

New York City 's wealthy elite are building incredible secret panic rooms in their glitzy mansions amid fears over spiking crime in the Big Apple

Another example of a panic room, with a bookcase serving as the means to entering it

'That wave has kind of died down but it was replaced in large part by the persistent uptick in violent crime in large cities like New York,' Humble said.

While violent crimes are noticeably down as of April 2024, according to the NYPD, crime in America's largest city remains elevated from 2019 lows.

In 2019, New York saw approximately 95,000 incidents of crime according to the NYPD. In 2023, that number was 126,678. That's a 33 percent increase from four years earlier, despite the fact that overall crime is indeed slowly trending down.

The NYPD stated in its most 2023 report that murders have increased for four straight years until last year when they fell 11 percent to a total of 386. 

Still, looking back to 2019, before the pandemic and protests linked to the police killing of George Floyd, there were 21 percent fewer murders than there were in 2023.

A side-by-side showing the regular wall, left, and the opening to the safe room, right

An appraiser named Jonathan Miller who knows city real estate inside and out said that panic rooms are a fad for the ultra-wealthy

Panic room outfitters said that they frequently serve celebrities, billionaires, government officials and embassies.

A mirror vault designed by Creative Home Engineering

Other crimes such as rapes, robberies, felony assaults, and grand larcenies are still quite a bit higher than they were four years ago, per the NYPD data.

Amid this objectively more dangerous environment, New Yorkers are 'locking down,' says Humble.

Panic room outfitters said that they frequently serve celebrities, billionaires, government officials and embassies. 

Rigdon wasn't able to concretely reveal any of his clients because of the NDAs he has signed, but he did give hints.

His clients include a 'famous piano player from England who wears funny glasses' and 'a TV host who's very famous with a friend named Gayle.' 

Rigdon also dropped the bombshell that Jeffrey Epstein's brother gave him a call once.

Rigdon gave hints as to which celebrities he had as clients, referring to one of them as a 'famous piano player from England who wears funny glasses'

Those in the business of panic rooms say selling them to rich people is as easy as telling them it's better to be safe than sorry

Pictured: A panic room designed by Creative Home Engineering, which is owned by Steve Humble

Comedian Joan Rivers had a safe room in her Fifth Avenue penthouse to hide herself away from stalkers, the New York Times reported. 

Gwyneth Paltrow was also said to have a safe room in her old West Fourth Street apartment, but her spokesperson said she only used it to store clothes.

It's easy to say that panic rooms are common among an exceedingly small slice of the city's population, but given the exorbitant cost - Rigdon's panic rooms start at $50,000 - it's a little harder to believe that people are actually having this done at an increased rate.

To find out, the magazine spoke to Jonathan Miller, an appraiser based in the city. 

'We've seen it in gut renovations over the last three to four years,' said Miller said. It's like adding a jacuzzi.'

Miller thinks it's a fad though, something only high-end homeowners are truly intrigued by. For instance, a luxury apartment in the city could cost $1 million to fortify. 

The panic room business owners say the way they sell this ludicrously expensive addition to rich people's homes is by convincing them that they're 'better safe than sorry.'