City Reliquary

The City Reliquary is a not-for-profit community museum and civic organization located in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn. Through permanent display of New York City artifacts, rotating exhibits of community collections, and annual cultural events, The City Reliquary connects visitors to both the past and present of New York.

The museum began in 2002 as a window display in founder Dave Herman’s Williamsburgh apartment on the corner of Havemeyer and Grand Streets. Passersby who paused to admire the window’s contents would discover a small button on the building’s exterior. With a push of the button, a recording of Dave’s voice would guide them around the display: two-and-a-half links of a “city hall window chain,” a set of dentures found in Dead Horse Bay, Statue of Liberty figurines. On the building’s exterior, Dave carefully painted directions to nearby landmarks and subways. Orienting yourself toward the Williamsburg Bridge, which the directions note is 1.3 miles west, you face the heart of New York City.