New York has four Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities: the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan (currently closed), the Federal Correctional Institution at Otisville, and the Federal Correctional Institution at Ray Brook. The two New York City facilities hold people before and during trial; the two upstate facilities house men serving sentences. All four are federal prisons in New York run by the BOP under the authority of the Attorney General, entirely separate from the state prisons operated by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 4042 – Duties of Bureau of Prisons
The Four Facilities
MDC Brooklyn
The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn is the main federal detention facility for New York City, holding roughly 1,338 inmates as of mid-2025.2Federal Bureau of Prisons. MDC Brooklyn It houses defendants awaiting trial or sentencing in both the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. Turnover is constant. Detainees often spend months at MDC while their cases move, and once sentenced they transfer to a longer-term facility that the BOP selects.
MCC New York
The Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan historically served the same pretrial role as MDC Brooklyn, mostly for Southern District cases. It closed in 2021 after serious infrastructure and safety failures, and the entire population was moved out. As of mid-2025 the facility holds zero inmates and all visiting remains suspended.3Federal Bureau of Prisons. MCC New York A Department of Justice Inspector General report found that the BOP had not secured adequate funds to complete the necessary repairs, leaving the facility’s future uncertain.4Office of the Inspector General. MCC New York – Infrastructure
FCI Otisville
FCI Otisville sits about 75 miles northwest of New York City. It is a medium-security facility for men, with a minimum-security satellite camp and a detention center on the same grounds.5Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Otisville The satellite camp holds people convicted of nonviolent offenses in a dormitory setting with much less restriction than the main facility. Otisville is known for its religious services, including kosher and halal meal programs, and for vocational and educational programming that the New York City detention centers do not offer.
FCI Ray Brook
FCI Ray Brook is a medium-security facility for men in the Adirondacks, near Lake Placid, with a detention center component.6Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Ray Brook Its origin is unusual. Congress funded the site in 1976 as the Olympic Village for the 1980 Winter Games, on the condition that any federally financed Olympic facility have a secondary use. Athletes lived in the dormitories for two weeks; the site then converted into a permanent federal prison.7Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Ray Brook – An Olympic Facility
What the Security Levels Mean
The BOP uses five security levels, and each New York facility falls into one of them. The level dictates housing type, freedom of movement, visiting conditions, and available programs.8Federal Bureau of Prisons. About Our Facilities Minimum-security camps use dormitory housing with little or no perimeter fencing; Otisville’s satellite camp is one. Low-security facilities have double-fenced perimeters and mostly dormitory or cubicle housing. Medium-security facilities have strengthened perimeters with electronic detection, mostly cell-type housing, and a higher staff ratio; the main sides of both FCI Otisville and FCI Ray Brook are medium. High-security U.S. Penitentiaries use walls or reinforced fences and close control of movement, and New York does not currently host one. Administrative facilities hold inmates of any security level for specialized purposes like pretrial detention; MDC Brooklyn and MCC New York are administrative.
How the BOP Decides Where Someone Goes
The BOP has sole authority over where a federal inmate serves a sentence. A sentencing judge can recommend a facility, but that recommendation is not binding, and no court can review the BOP’s placement decision.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3621 – Imprisonment of a Convicted Person A judge might suggest Otisville; the BOP can send the person to another state.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 3621, the BOP weighs bed availability, security designation, programmatic needs, mental and medical health needs, faith-based requests, and any sentencing court recommendation. The statute also requires placement as close as practicable to the inmate’s primary residence and, to the extent practicable, within 500 driving miles of it. The First Step Act strengthened this by requiring the BOP to move inmates closer to home even when they are already within 500 miles, subject to the inmate’s preference.10Federal Bureau of Prisons. An Overview of the First Step Act
For a New York resident, that puts Otisville and Ray Brook in range, along with facilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Specialized medical or program needs can send a person further. In practice, the 500-mile rule is aspirational; overcrowding or security concerns often override proximity.
Finding Someone in Federal Custody
The BOP runs a free online inmate locator that covers everyone incarcerated in the federal system from 1982 to the present. You can search by first and last name or by BOP register number, FBI number, or INS number.11Federal Bureau of Prisons. Inmate Locator Results show the current facility, projected release date, and age. Release dates may lag because of ongoing First Step Act recalculations. A “Released” or “Not in BOP Custody” result without a facility means the person is out of the federal system but could still be on supervised release, on parole, or in state custody.
Visiting Someone at a Federal Prison in New York
Federal law guarantees each inmate at least four hours of visiting time per month, and most facilities offer more.12Federal Bureau of Prisons. How to Visit a Federal Inmate Visits are usually on weekends and holidays, sometimes on weekdays. Weekends are the busiest, and a facility may cap each inmate to either Saturday or Sunday.
Before you can visit, you must be on the inmate’s approved visiting list. When the inmate arrives at a facility, they receive a Visitor Information Form (BP-A0629), fill in their portion, and mail a copy to you. You complete the rest and mail it to the facility. The BOP runs a background check that may involve contacting law enforcement or querying the National Crime Information Center. If the BOP denies your visit, it notifies the inmate, and the inmate tells you.
Dress codes are strictly enforced. Revealing clothing, sleeveless tops, shorts, miniskirts, see-through garments, and anything resembling inmate clothing (khaki or green military-type items) will get you turned away. When an inmate first arrives or transfers, immediate family members verified through the Pre-Sentence Report may be allowed to visit before the formal list is set up.
Phone, Messaging, and Mail
As of January 2025, the FCC set federal inmate phone rates at $0.06 per minute for audio calls and $0.16 per minute for video calls.13Federal Bureau of Prisons. FBOP Updates to Phone Call Policies and Time Credit System Calls are monitored and recorded, with the exception of calls to attorneys. Each inmate gets a set number of minutes per month, and individual call lengths vary by facility.
The BOP’s TRULINCS system handles text-based electronic messages. Inmates have no internet access; TRULINCS is closed and monitored. Messages are capped at 13,000 characters (about two pages), attachments are not allowed, and both sides must consent to monitoring before using the system. Every message is screened.14Federal Bureau of Prisons. Community Ties Each outside contact has to agree separately.
Postal mail still carries most legal correspondence. General mail is opened and inspected but not usually read in detail. Legal mail from an attorney is opened in the inmate’s presence and checked for contraband, not read. Some facilities allow magazines and books only when sent directly from publishers or approved retailers.
How Time Credits Shorten a Sentence
Two separate mechanisms can shorten actual time behind bars, and they are easy to confuse.
Good Conduct Time
Under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b), inmates can earn up to 54 days of good conduct time per year of the sentence imposed. Before the First Step Act, the BOP calculated this against time actually served, which worked out to roughly 47 days a year. The First Step Act changed the formula so it runs against the sentence length itself, allowing the full 54.15Federal Register. Good Conduct Time Credit Under the First Step Act Partial years are prorated. The credit is not automatic. Inmates must avoid disciplinary infractions, and for offenses committed after April 1996 they must either hold a GED or high school diploma or make satisfactory progress toward one.
First Step Act Earned Time Credits
Separately, eligible inmates earn time credits by completing BOP-recommended recidivism reduction programs and productive activities at a rate of 10 days for every 30-day period of successful participation. Inmates classified as minimum or low risk who hold that classification across two consecutive assessments earn an additional 5 days per 30-day period, for 15 in total.10Federal Bureau of Prisons. An Overview of the First Step Act These credits push someone into prerelease custody earlier, meaning either home confinement or a residential reentry center.
Not everyone qualifies. Convictions for violent offenses, terrorism, espionage, human trafficking, sex offenses, repeat firearms possession, and high-level drug offenses disqualify a person from earning time credits toward early release. Those inmates can still take programs and earn other BOP-determined benefits, but the credits will not move the release date.
Release Preparation and Halfway Houses
Federal law requires the BOP to plan for release well before it happens. Under 18 U.S.C. § 4042, the BOP must help inmates apply for federal and state benefits, obtain identification like a Social Security card and driver’s license, and provide information on health, employment, education, personal finance, and community resources.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 4042 – Duties of Bureau of Prisons
Many inmates transition through a Residential Reentry Center, or halfway house, before full release. Residents can begin working in the community while still under BOP supervision, and they pay a subsistence fee equal to 25 percent of gross income, capped at the facility’s per diem contract rate.16Federal Bureau of Prisons. Residential Reentry Management Centers The BOP operates a Residential Reentry Management office in New York to coordinate placements.
The BOP must also notify local law enforcement at least five days before releasing certain categories of inmates, with the person’s name, criminal history, and any conditions of supervised release. For inmates earning First Step Act credits, prerelease custody in home confinement or a halfway house is the mechanism that puts them back in the community earlier than their projected release date.