A federal administrative detention centre in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, holding people awaiting trial or sentencing in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. It takes both men and women in pretrial and holdover status, and sentenced men who work in the building. Most people here will serve any sentence somewhere else.
City
Brooklyn
County
Kings County
State
NY
Facility Type
federal prison
Gender
Mixed, with sentenced men only
Custody Levels
Administrative
Operator
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Address
80 29th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Phone
718-840-4200
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The federal locator only covers Bureau of Prisons custody. Someone held by the U.S. Marshals Service on a fresh federal charge will not appear until the Bureau books them in.
View ArticleForm BP-A0629 gets a visitor approved, immediate family only while someone is pretrial. Each housing unit has its own day and time that the Bureau will not disclose to visitors.
View ArticleMoney orders go to the national lockbox in Des Moines, never the facility. MoneyGram code 7932 or Western Union city code FBOP, DC also work. Commissary caps at $150 here.
View ArticleCalls run fifteen minutes each against a 300 minute monthly allowance on the Bureau's TRUFONE system. Families cannot call in or add themselves; the person inside manages it.
View ArticleEverything mailed in is photocopied and the original destroyed, greeting cards included. Envelopes must be white, and glitter, stickers, and perfume all cause rejection.
View ArticleThe federal locator covers Bureau of Prisons custody, which is not the same as federal custody. Somebody arrested on a federal charge is held by the U.S. Marshals Service first and does not appear until the Bureau books them in. At a detention centre screening 200 to 300 arrivals a week, that gap is real and it is the single most common reason a search comes back empty.
See the full breakdownForm BP-A0629 gets a visitor approved, and while someone is pretrial the list is immediate family only. Each housing unit has its own assigned day and time, and the Bureau will not tell a visitor what it is, so the information has to come from the person inside. Four visitors at once, one visit a day, one hour a week for pretrial and holdover.
See the full breakdownNever to the facility. Money orders go to a national lockbox in Des Moines, and electronic deposits run through MoneyGram receive code 7932 or Western Union code city FBOP, DC. Every route wants the eight-digit register number with no dash, which is not the format the locator shows you. The commissary limit here is $150, not the $360 quoted for federal prisons generally.
See the full breakdownCalls run on the Bureau's TRUFONE system, fifteen minutes each, against a 300 minute monthly allowance. Phones are blocked for large parts of a weekday around counts. Families cannot call in and cannot add themselves to the list; the person inside manages it through TRULINCS. Pretrial detainees also have unmonitored phones to reach the Federal Defenders free of charge.
See the full breakdownEverything you post is photocopied and the original destroyed, greeting cards included. Envelopes and paper must be white, card stock is rejected, and glitter, stickers, lipstick, crayon, marker and perfume all cause rejection. Stamps cannot be received from outside under any circumstances. Photographs are allowed, with no Polaroids, and they arrive as photocopies like everything else.
See the full breakdown6 of 9 questions
Inmate mail goes to a post office box, not the street address. Use the person's full name and register number, then Metropolitan Detention Center, P.O. Box 329002, Brooklyn, NY 11232. The street address, 80 29th Street, is where you go in person. A separate box, 329001, exists for prescription eyeglasses sent by an attorney.
Mail & PhotosIt photocopies them and delivers the copy. The Bureau's own wording is that all general correspondence will be photocopied and the person will only be provided the photocopy. That includes greeting cards. Special mail, meaning properly marked legal mail, is not photocopied.
Mail & PhotosImmediate family only: mother, father, stepparent, foster parent, brother, sister, spouse and children. Friends and extended family cannot go on a pretrial visiting list. A cohabiting partner of someone with no legal spouse may qualify with documentation such as a lease or children's birth certificates. Sentenced people can add up to four others.
VisitationThe current attorney guide gives weekday social visiting 12:00 to 3:00 PM and 5:00 to 7:30 PM. A 2017 visiting supplement also lists weekends 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and the newer document does not repeat it. Because the two disagree, confirm weekend visiting by calling 718-840-4200 before travelling.
VisitationBecause the Bureau says it is not their job to. Each housing unit has a set day and time, and the guidance states that the person in custody must tell their family, and the institution will not provide that information to visitors. So the answer has to come from them, in a call or a letter.
VisitationThree ways, none of them to the facility. Post a money order to Federal Bureau of Prisons, the person's name, their eight-digit register number, PO Box 474701, Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001. Or use MoneyGram receive code 7932, or Western Union with code city FBOP, DC. Electronic deposits sent between 7:00 AM and 9:00 PM Eastern post within two to four hours.
Send MoneyThe Bureau does not publish a rate for MDC Brooklyn. Its handbook says only that rates are posted inside the institution. What is published: calls are capped at fifteen minutes, there is a 300 minute monthly allowance with ordinarily an extra hundred minutes in November and December, and up to thirty numbers can go on the approved list.
Phone CallsNo. The Bureau states plainly that an attorney may not call a person in custody, and the same applies to family. The only inbound route is a death or serious illness in the immediate family, which goes through the main line at 718-840-4200 asking for Religious Services or the Unit Team.
Phone CallsSomeone arrested on a federal charge is held by the U.S. Marshals Service before being booked into Bureau custody, and the locator only covers Bureau custody. There is a genuine gap between arrest and appearing. The Bureau's own advice is to wait until a person has physically arrived at a facility before sending money.
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All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified September 15, 2026. Official source: bop.gov/locations/institutions/bro ›