The City Reliquary

Last weekend I visited the City Reliquary, a non-profit community organization and “museum” (more like a couple of rooms in an old building) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn:

The Reliquary showcases artifacts of New York City, from old seltzer bottles to the original Metrocard, to newspaper articles about burlesque shows:

Its current exhibit is about vanishing handmade shop signs in Williamsburg, like these:

My favorite feature was an old map of Stuyvesant Farm; plugging a pair of headphones into the map, I could hear imagined soundscapes for various points of interest. Since I live in the East Village on a block that was once part of the farm, this really triggered my imagination.

Interestingly, the Reliquary (I just like typing that word) has a much more polished presence online than it does in person; I encourage you to check out its website. Then again, maybe polished isn’t your thing, and the cluttered “Grandma hasn’t cleaned out the spare bedroom” feel of the museum itself would be more up your alley… in which case, get thee to the Reliquary! (address and directions here)

If you were choosing artifacts for a museum about your city, what objects would you include?

Related Reading:

• Choosing our personal artifacts (from my old blog, Creative DC)