Visiting Rikers Island

Registration Windows, and Why They Are the Whole Game

Arrive inside the window or you do not visit. The department is blunt about it: visitors who arrive outside registration hours will not be eligible for a visit.

Day	Registration
Wednesday	1:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Thursday	1:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Friday	Televisits only, booked in advance
Saturday	7:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Sunday	7:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Monday and Tuesday	No visits

The weekend cutoff is noon. That is the one that catches people. A Saturday visit is a morning commitment, not an afternoon one.

Visits themselves run past the end of registration as needed to accommodate anyone who registered in time, so getting through the door by the deadline is what matters.

The Surname Schedule

Visiting days alternate by the first letter of the incarcerated person’s last name.

Some days are A to L, others M to Z, and a few are A to Z, meaning open to everyone. The department publishes the pattern a month at a time and it does not repeat predictably, so a calendar that worked last month may not work this one.

Fridays always show as open to all because Fridays are televisit days.

The durable place to look is the department’s visit schedule page, which links the current month. Check it against the surname before you leave the house.

Where You Go

Everything runs through the Benjamin Ward Visit Center, 18-31 Hazen Street, East Elmhurst, NY 11370, also called Rikers Island Central Visits. You do not go to the individual jail.

Screening happens at the Samuel Perry Control Building, which is also where documents are dropped off. Packages go to the Bail and Package Reception area next to Central Visits.

How Long, How Many, How Often

• Every visit is one hour.
• Detained people: three visits per visit week. Sentenced people: two. The visit week runs Wednesday to Sunday, and each entitlement includes at least one evening or weekend visit.
• One visit session per visit day, no matter how many visitors are in it.
• Group size: two adults plus one child on a lap, or one adult plus two children with at least one small enough for a lap. The handbook also allows up to three visitors at once without facility approval, and more by written request to the Commanding Officer.
• Extra visits are granted for special circumstances, including lengthy travel time. If you are coming from out of state, that is worth asking about rather than assuming the standard allowance.

Attorney visits run seven days a week, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and do not count against the personal allowance.

ID the Visit Center Accepts

Everyone 16 and over needs current photo ID with a photograph and a signature. Accepted:

• Driving licence, or DMV non-driver ID
• Employment photo ID with the most recent payslip
• Resident alien or permanent resident card
• A passport from any country
• New York State benefits ID with a photo
• U.S. Armed Services ID
• Consulate-issued or diplomatic ID
• IDNYC

Bringing Children to Rikers

• Under 16 must be accompanied by a properly identified adult of at least 18, who stays for the whole visit.
• A visitor under 18 gives the name, address and phone number of a parent or legal guardian.
• 16 and 17 year olds may visit alone with valid ID. They can only bring a child under 16 if they are that child’s parent, the person being visited is also that child’s parent, and they produce the birth certificate.
• Visitors with children may get expedited screening at the Control Building. Ask rather than waiting in the general queue.
• Coloring books and crayons are available on request.
• Strollers are allowed inside unless they have electronics or GPS, in which case they are secured outside and you bring your own lock and chain.
• You may carry in two clear plastic baby bottles, one blanket, one bib and nappies. On the visit floor itself: one blanket, one plastic bottle, one bib. No glass.

One Layer, No Accessories

A single layer of clothing and no accessories is the department’s own summary.

Not permitted: holes or rips more than three inches above the knee; hooded garments; hats and head coverings, with religious exceptions; gang identifiers; obscene, drug, sex or violence references; swimwear; see-through garments; anything resembling staff uniform, medical scrubs included; jewellery beyond a wedding ring and one religious medal no more than two inches on a chain no thicker than a quarter inch and no longer than 24 inches; tops exposing chest, stomach or back; hems more than three inches above the knee; spandex leggings unless covered by a top or skirt no more than three inches above the knee; outer garments including coats, jackets, vests, shawls, ponchos, gloves and overshoes. Undergarments are required.

If you fall foul of it, you are offered a department cover-up garment and can still have a contact visit. Refusing the cover-up means no visit.

What Happens on Arrival

• Visitors are subject to passive canine searches at the Visit Control Building.
• No phones, cameras, recording devices, beepers, any electronics, or chewing gum. Lockers are in front of the main Visit House.
• Contact visits are the norm, which the department describes as holding hands, holding young children and kissing. Non-contact visits happen from a booth.
• Para-Transit vehicles carry visitors with disabilities from the Control Building to the facility.
• Health services are offered to visitors at the Central Visit Center, including condoms, naloxone and overdose prevention education, health education and health insurance help.

On waiting, the department says this itself: wait times vary, arriving early will not guarantee a faster visit, and it recommends arriving at the start of registration.

Televisits, on Fridays

Fridays are video only, 8:00 AM to 1:30 PM, and they must be booked ahead.

1. Use the department’s video visit request form online.
2. Give three possible dates. You can only request for the coming week; anything further ahead is not fulfilled.
3. It is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation email with the date, time and access link. Nothing within 24 hours of your last requested date means resubmit with different dates.
4. Web forms are not processed on Mondays or Tuesdays, and no confirmations go out on those days.

You need a device with a camera, an internet connection and a working email address.

A televisit is terminated immediately for recording or screenshotting, dress code violations, sexual misconduct, including anyone not named on the form, or appearing under the influence.

The Bridge, and the Only Bus Over It

One bus crosses the bridge, and it is the Q100.

From Manhattan: the Q101 from East 59th Street and Second Avenue takes you to Hazen Street and 19th Avenue in Queens, the entrance to the island. You transfer there to the Q100 for the Rikers Island Bridge and the Visit Center. The Q100 also originates on Jackson Avenue at 42nd Road.

The free Department of Correction bus runs from two stops, is ADA compliant, and all passengers 16 and over show current ID. Call 311 for service information.

• Harlem: East 125th Street at 3rd Avenue. About 45 minutes each way.
• Brooklyn: Jay Street, between Fulton Street and Willoughby Street. About 60 minutes each way.

Departures run through the registration windows on visiting days, with returns spaced across the afternoon and evening. The department publishes the timetable as a PDF, last dated December 2024, so confirm the current times on 311 rather than relying on a saved copy.

Driving. The department’s own words: parking is very limited and public transportation is the best option. From the Bronx or Manhattan, take the Triboro Bridge into Queens eastbound on the Grand Central Parkway, exit at Astoria Boulevard, bear left and continue on 23rd Avenue to 82nd Street, left to 81st Street, right on 81st, which becomes 19th Avenue, to the first traffic light at Hazen Street, then right to the car park. From Brooklyn or Staten Island, take the Brooklyn Queens Expressway toward Queens and pick up the Astoria Boulevard directions.

Before You Leave the House

1. Check the lookup, confirm they are still in city custody.
2. Check this month’s schedule against their surname.
3. Check the registration window for that day, and remember weekends close at noon.
4. Bring current photo ID for everyone 16 and over.
5. Leave your phone at home or plan for a locker.
6. Allow for the transfer at Hazen Street and 19th Avenue.