The City Reliquary

The City Reliquary is a local museum in Williamsburg that displays objects connected to New York City. The collection includes stone fragments from notable buildings, vintage coffee cups, Jackie Robinson memorabilia, and items from the World's Fairs of 1939-1940 and 1964-1965.

The museum was founded in 2002 when its founder displayed objects in his Williamsburg apartment windows. The holdings include the rope that secured the mourning drape on New York City Hall after September 11.

The collection explores how the city relates to its own symbols, with many representations of the Statue of Liberty and mementos from significant moments in New York's past. Visitors can observe how New York processes and preserves its own history through small, everyday objects.

The museum is open Thursday through Sunday and visits are best made in the morning or early afternoon when the space is less crowded. The entrance is on Metropolitan Avenue, and the rooms are tight, so visitors should expect limited space.

The collection holds unusual finds such as dentures discovered at Dead Horse Bay, an abandoned underwater dump site. Such bizarre and intimate objects tell stories of New Yorkers whose names we will never know.

Location: Brooklyn

Inception: 2002

Website: http://cityreliquary.org

GPS coordinates: 40.71388,-73.95576

Latest update: December 12, 2025 17:48