Gary L.
Yelp
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.