One thing to remember, do not call the first "locksmith" in the phone book, there are often scammers out there that say it's $45 to come out, then they drill or angle grinder your locks or safes and ask for $500 for the trouble. Do your research and find a real brick and mortal lock and safe shop in your area that has been around. Sometimes you can find a mobile locksmith that also happens to be a safe and vault expert, but not all locksmith do safe work. (Safe And Vault Technicians Association) SAVTA.org website lookup shows these two are near you and are actual safe technicians
http://www.connecticutlockandkey.com/ and
https://flyinglocksmiths.com/locations/westchester/Your safe and lock could be drilled and scoped by an expert in under an hour and it would cost probably $250-$750 depending on who you get a quote from. Most safes are empty, so other than the satisfaction of getting it open, you probably wont find gold bars or stock certificates inside.
The drilling and scoping does not ruin the safe, it is usually a hole 1/4 inch or smaller and can be fixed on the spot by the same person who drills it, in order to make the safe fully functional. Some may want to drill and punch the cam instead of drilling to scope the combination using a medical style rigid borescope. If they break the boltwork while punching, they will usually have to weld or braze it together as replacement parts are not available for this old of a safe.
Hope this helps,
Squelchtone