Address:
462 1st Avenue
19th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Phone:
212-562-4331
Almost all jails and prisons have adopted a messaging system which allows inmates to communicate with their friends and family using an electronic messaging system. It’s neither email nor text, it’s something in between.
The inmate and their contacts do not use their regular email accounts or phone numbers, but account numbers that are set up with the company providing the service.
All communication goes through them. Think of them as a middleman.
Once a contact of the inmate is approved, like the approval process a visitor goes through, an account is set up, using a credit or debit card to fund the account.
To start, the inmate’s contact can send a message that has a limit of so many characters, usually about one page of text.
The message is then reviewed by a computer that scans the message for certain keywords or phrases that are not allowed, almost like a censoring service. If the machine scanner finds problems with the message it sends the message to the Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward staff to review, and if they find no issues, will then forward it to the inmate’s account so that they can read it.
If there are problems with the message, it is possible the message will not be sent. The sender will be notified of the decision and will not get a refund.
Once the inmate receives the message, should the account holder have funded the account allowing replies, the inmate can respond with a similar length message.
The cost to use the electronic messaging service, which is like texting or emailing, costs between $0.50 and $1.00 per page; a page being about 500 characters.
Photos can be sent by the inmate’s contact that is not incarcerated, but not by the inmate due to security concerns. There is an extra cost, usually about $0.50 for each photo attached.
The photos must go through a security screening where nudity, violence and other things are checked before the photo can be delivered. If the photo is rejected, the sender will be notified, but no refund will be given.
The inmate does not have the ability to print out the photos that make it past the screening, but the photos will stay in their account so that they can view them at their leisure.
No. Because this is a closed system, the inmate has no access to the internet, thus the inmate will have no access to any links that you send them.
Yes, just as you can send text and photos, you can send a video message, or if not a message, then a video of your children or yourself. Every company has a limit on the length of the video, usually no more than one minute, and at a cost of approximately $2.00 to $3.00 per video.
The video will first be screened for any nudity, excessive vulgarity, violence, etc. If it is rejected on any of the grounds the sender will not be given a refund.
As with the policy of photos, the inmate cannot reciprocate. They cannot send videos of themselves or anything in jail.
The jails that contract with the electronic messaging service is given a certain number of kiosks within each unit for inmate use. Inmates can log on as they might with a public computer terminal.
In addition to the public terminal kiosks, inmates are given (or can rent) access to individual tablets like a bulky, almost indestructible ipad. These allow an inmate to use them to access your messages, photos and videos in a more private manner.
Should the inmate damage the tablet, they will be responsible for replacing it. The money will be deducted from their commissary account.
The electronic messaging system used by Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward, if there is one, can be found at the top of this page. If there is no information about the ability to text or email with an inmate, it is possible that the facility has recently changed companies or does not have this service available. Call 212-562-4331 to confirm.
This is a list of all the companies in the United States that work with jails and prisons, providing text and email messaging between inmates and their friends and families:
Access Corrections
CIDNET
City Tele Coin
Correct Pay
Corrlinks
Ctel
Edevo
Express Account
Gettingout
GTL
Homewav
IC Solutions
Inmate Canteen
Inmate Sales
JailATM
J Pay
NCIC
Paytel
Pigeonly
Prodigy Sales
Reliance
Securus
Smart Communications
TBE
Visitel
You fund the messaging service with credit and debit cards. All of them take Visa and MasterCard, most also take Discover, and just some take America Express.
There is no limit to the amount of texting and email that an inmate can have with their family and friends.
If an inmate has their own tablet, then they can text any time of the day or night, however if the must use the wall mounted kiosk terminal in their unit, they are limited to using it only during the hours they are allowed off their bunks; usually 7:00AM to 10:00PM, excluding meals, head counts and shift changes.
No, inmates are not allowed to communicate with each other, nor with inmates in other institutions. There is always a way to get around it, for example if one of the inmates has access to a phone with an internet connection, but this would be the only way.
To find out if NYC DOC inmates have access to Tablets, check out our Tablet Rental Page.
Instructions for ordering commissary for Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward will soon be announced.
The New York City Department of Correction is rolling out a new commissary system in the Spring of 2022. Inmates will be able to order commissary directly and have it delivered from an outside vendor. Stay tuned for updates.
This jailhouse 'Uber Eats' system will be replacing the current commissary system.
Stay tuned by checking out our Commissary Page for Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward
To find out how Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward makes phone calls, read this information:
For all the information on how to buy time, using tablets to make calls, how much it costs and more, check out out Inmate Phone Page.
To deposit money in the commissary account of an NYC DOC inmate, follow these instructions:
For all the information, including links to all of the online deposit methods and addresses fo mailing money orders, check out our Send Money Page.
For all the information about Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward, how to reach an inmate there, how to find out if the inmate is there, or where he went when he was released, check out our Family Info Page.
To understand the Mail Policies for Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward requires a lot of time and attention as NYC DOC Jails are some of the most permissive in America.
1. Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward allows unlimited mail.
2. They allow packages to be sent in to inmates.
3. They allow magazines, newspapers and books to be sent direct from friends and family.
4. They allow clothing, jewelry, art supplies and all kinds of stuff to be sent to inmates.
In short, to fully understand the Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward and see the full list of things you can mail to an inmate, check out our Inmate Mail Page.
To Bail out an inmate in Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward or a New York City Jail follow these instructions:
1. You can post bail either online or in person.
2. To post bail online or in person you need the exact name your inmate used when arrested, and their book and case number. You can find this information here.
3. You can use one of multiple payment systems online.... Western Union, Moneygram or Jpay.
4. In person bail payments must be made in Brooklyn, Queens or the Bronx.
5. Personal checks or Money Orders exceeding $1,000 will NOT be accepted for bail.
For the complete information on how to bail out someone from Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward or any Rikers island or NYC Jail, check out our Inmate Bail Page.