Hack Manhattan lockpicking workshop brings TOOOL tools and public instruction

Hack Manhattan’s locksport workshop will make the hardest part of trying the hobby less about dexterity than logistics: showing up again. The class will run Sunday, June 14, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM EDT in New York, then repeat every two weeks on Sunday through Dec. 27, giving newcomers a second chance if the first session leaves them wanting more practice.

That cadence is the real story. A one-off demo can spark curiosity, but a fixed Sunday night slot turns lockpicking into something people can actually build into a routine, especially when the workshop comes with tools provided by The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers, better known as TOOOL, and instruction from a member of Hack Manhattan. For anyone arriving with only a beginner’s curiosity, the setup removes two of the usual barriers at once: gear and guidance.

TOOOL gives the workshop a wider locksport backbone. The group describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to advancing public knowledge about locks and lock picking through teaching, research, and competition. Its U.S. organization is volunteer-led and includes many chapters, among them an affiliated chapter in Canada. The mission is plain enough for a hobby that still gets wrapped in mystery: publicly examine locks and related hardware, learn how they work, and understand how they can be defeated without destruction.

That emphasis matters in a city like New York, where hands-on security education fits neatly alongside hacker and maker culture. Hack Manhattan itself is a makerspace at 34 West 37th Street, between Herald Square and Bryant Park, and it says it opens to the public every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 PM. The locksport workshop will sit naturally inside that broader rhythm of open access and practical learning, not as a novelty but as part of the room’s regular life.

The pattern is not new. A Hack Manhattan locksport listing from Sept. 20, 2024 said the event featured members of the local NYC chapter of TOOOL, and another from June 29, 2025 showed the same workshop format and recurring structure. This year’s version keeps that template intact, and that may be the point: in locksport, repetition is not redundancy. It is how a first try becomes a second visit, and a second visit becomes a practice.