The city lookup will not show someone still held by the NYPD, which is why a search hours after an arrest so often comes back empty. Start with the search below.
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New York City runs its own Person in Custody Lookup, separate from the state and federal systems, and it does one job well: it tells you which of the city’s jails holds someone. That answer matters more here than at a single-building facility, because six jails operate on Rikers Island and each has its own address. The tool’s published limitation is the one that catches families in the first frantic hours: it does not cover police custody.
The lookup carries its own warning, and it is the answer to most failed searches:
Not for persons in custody in police, state, or federal custody.
Someone arrested by the NYPD is in police custody until the Department of Correction books them in. Through arrest, processing and arraignment they do not appear in this tool at all. A family searching every hour on the night of an arrest is searching a system the person has not entered yet.
The department does not publish how long that takes, so there is no interval to quote. What can be said is that an empty result in the first hours means the process is still running, not that something has gone wrong.
The same limitation works at the other end. Somebody sentenced to state prison moves into the New York State system and out of this tool, into the DOCCS lookup instead. Somebody in federal custody was never in it.
That holds even inside the city. Queensboro Correctional Facility in Long Island City is a state prison, not a city jail, so it shows up in the DOCCS lookup and never in this one. Our Queensboro inmate lookup covers it.
By NYSID or Book and Case number. The NYSID is a state identification number. The Book and Case number is assigned by the department at admission. Either is exact.
By first and last name. Common names return a list to choose from.
The result gives the person’s current location and basic case information, and carries a Send Money button that routes through to the transfer agents.
Take it down the first time you see it.
It goes on every envelope you address, next to their full name. It goes on every deposit through JPay or Western Union. It is what the Visit Center works from. A family that only ever has a name is a family doing everything the slow way.
Six jails operate on Rikers Island. The lookup names which one, and the address changes with it.
| Jail | Address | Who it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Eric M. Taylor Center (EMTC) | 10-10 Hazen Street | Males |
| George R. Vierno Center (GRVC) | 09-09 Hazen Street | Detained and sentenced male adults |
| Otis Bantum Correctional Center (OBCC) | 16-00 Hazen Street | Male adults |
| Robert N. Davoren Center (RNDC) | 11-11 Hazen Street | Males and young adults |
| Rose M. Singer Center (RMSC) | 19-19 Hazen Street | Women, with a 25-bed nursery |
| West Facility (WF) | 16-06 Hazen Street | Single-cell units, including the Communicable Disease Unit |
All six are East Elmhurst, NY 11370. A letter addressed to the wrong one has to be forwarded, which costs days at a place where people are often held for weeks.
RESH is the Rose M. Singer Center Enhanced Supervised Housing, at the same 19-19 Hazen Street address, and it is worth knowing what the lookup itself says about it.
The department’s facilities page describes RESH as housing male detainees in restrictive housing. The lookup carries a more current note: RESH now houses both people in restrictive housing and general population, and those in RESH general population are not subject to restrictive status.
So a result showing RESH does not automatically mean restrictive housing. Read the notice on the lookup rather than assuming the worse reading.
Older guides and older search results still name these, and they will not help you.
Two locations off Rikers appear in the lookup and have different visiting arrangements:
There is no family notification when someone is transferred between buildings on the island, and nothing in the department’s published material suggests otherwise.
Everything that follows from a move is on you to catch: a letter goes to the old address, a visit is planned at the wrong building, a deposit is made against stale information.
Check the lookup before every letter, every deposit and every visit. It takes a minute and it is the only thing standing between you and a wasted trip across the bridge.
6 of 8 questions
Because the lookup covers Department of Correction custody, not police custody, and it says so on the tool itself. Through arrest, processing and arraignment the person is with the NYPD and does not appear. The department does not publish how long booking takes, so an empty result in the first hours means the process is still running.
Inmate SearchNYSID or Book and Case number, which are exact, or first and last name, which may return a list to choose from. The result gives the person's current facility and basic case information, and carries a Send Money button that routes to the transfer agents.
Inmate SearchThe lookup names it, and the address changes with it. Eric M. Taylor Center is 10-10 Hazen Street, George R. Vierno Center 09-09, Otis Bantum Correctional Center 16-00, Robert N. Davoren Center 11-11, Rose M. Singer Center 19-19 and West Facility 16-06, all East Elmhurst, NY 11370. Mail to the wrong one gets forwarded, which costs days.
Inmate SearchNot necessarily. RESH is inside the Rose M. Singer Center at 19-19 Hazen Street, and the lookup carries a notice saying it now houses both people in restrictive housing and general population, with those in RESH general population not subject to restrictive status. The older facilities page has not caught up with that.
Inmate SearchNo. Nothing in the department's published material describes notifying families of a transfer between buildings, so the first sign is usually mail going astray or a visit planned at the wrong address. Check the lookup before every letter, deposit and visit.
Inmate SearchIt stopped housing people in 2023, though the island's main kitchen still operates there. North Infirmary Command closed permanently in June 2026, and George Motchan Detention Center closed in 2018 and is now a Training Academy annex. None of the three holds anyone, whatever older guides say.
Inmate SearchNo. The Bellevue Outposted Therapeutic Housing Units at 462 1st Avenue in Manhattan opened in 2026 for people with complex medical needs, and there are secure hospital prison wards at Bellevue and Elmhurst. All appear in the same lookup but they have their own visiting arrangements.
Inmate SearchBecause a state sentence moves them out of city custody and into the New York State system, which has a separate lookup at the DOCCS site. The city tool only covers people the Department of Correction is holding. Federal custody is a third system again, searched at bop.gov.
Inmate SearchWalk-in only, and your surname decides the day.
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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.