MDC Brooklyn

I came to MDC to visit a relative whom is a federal inmate. The whole process here wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm comparing the visiting process to 1 Police Plaza near City Hall and to Allenwood penitentiary in PA. The Friday visiting hours are from 5pm-7pm. If you get there on time, fill out the application, put your personal effects in locker that is provided, you'll be in the visiting room in no time. The security guards weren't as mean as I expected. In Allenwood, those guards were dicks! They didn't even allow you to use the lockers even though they had them. 1 Police Plaza isn't too bad but the visiting room is small and stinky. Here at MDC, it was fairly spacious. In the visiting room, there were private rooms for attorneys and inmates. There's 1 food vending machine, most items were $4-5. Two soda machines, all beverages were $2.75 and only 1 microwave to heat up your food. No utensils, just napkins. Sounds awful but still 10 times better than 1 Police Plaza. During visitation, the guard tells you where to be seated. In Allenwood, you choose wherever you like just as long as an inmate does not sit next to another inmate. The only thing that you're allowed to bring inside is cash money, only singles or five dollar bills. No 10's, 20's, 50's, 100's and you must keep the money in a zip lock bag. They aren't too hard on you if you don't have a bag. In Allenwood, they break your balls over everything and treat the visitor as if they're the inmate. Verdict - From just a visitor's point of view, it's not too shabby. Getting here by train was the worse part. Taking the R to 25th street station took forever. It's about a 7-8 block walk from the station. There's also a waiting room outside of MDC. There's air conditioning but it is still relatively hot because of the non tinted glass windows. I considered driving here but I'm not familiar with the parking situation and whether you're allowed to park under the BQE without a permit. I didn't want to risk it so I wound up taking a near 2 hour train ride to get to this darn place. All in all, knowing that a relative is now closer to home, it's a good sign. Just make sure you don't wear tan or brown colored shirt or pants and just follow their guideline policy before visiting an inmate. The process will be quicker than you think if you come correct.

I can actually review this place as my boyfriend was sitting there for 3 years for drug trafficking (that happened many years ago). He lost a lot of weight and become almost autistic. He lost a job, his business, almost all friends (that's maybe a good thing after all) and almost lost me. The "clientelle" is rather friendly. The guards do not push above the roof. The food is bad, but there's commissary for a hundred bucks a week. Then you can "pay" the locals to cook something for you. He fought his case and won a time served. What an experience.

I rated Brooklyn MDC "A-OK". My stay was roughly 6 months. I was housed in what they call the "new building", which was cleaner and more high tech, contrary to the "old building" which was dorm-style and, from what I heard, "a rat infested trash dump filled with terrorists and mobsters". As previously stated, the food was OK, the building was rather clean. For entertainment, there were several TV's and a rather active ping pong table that was the circle of attention on late weekend nights. Although there was only a stabbing in my pod ONCE, I felt rather safe and secure, and the guards normally did their duty. Therefore, I rate MDC Brooklyn 3/5, "A-OK"!

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. Officially, this place doesn't exist. Try finding it on a map. Nope. Its like, off-the-grid. Spooky. You can locate it via photographs but that's about it. No one goes here and no one leaves. Right in our own neighborhood. I can assure you that its just not an institution that wants any kind of profile. It wants *your* profile if you stroll by too close. So, keep walking. Nothing to see here. Ride on. Costco's a few blocks south..

Can I do negative stars for this one? Hmm. Where do I begin? The workers tend to be cruel, overpaid, all from the area so they know many of the people in there and thus, if you dont know them, you are the one getting busted for one too many blankets. At mail call, the cops get jealous of the mail you get and it goes missing. The counselors have office hours they do not keep and to get ahold of them or an answer to your cop-out is impossible. The place is packed with about 2300 people and the "old MDC' is a crumbling crap hole. I spent two months here in 2007 waiting to get shipped to the midwest. The food is horrible, the dorms are loud, the laundry doesnt work and its so cold in here. Visitation is the loudest I have ever seen and you have to do some really bogus searches. i.e. the cops want to look at you naked. If you have the misfortune of being stuck in a nyc federal prison, try to get to MCC. its way better, all things considered.