You’re walking down Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg. It’s loud. There’s a guy selling $8 artisanal toast and three people almost hitting you with electric scooters. Then, you see a window full of old seltzer bottles and a sign that looks like it belongs in a 1940s hardware store. That’s the City Reliquary Museum Brooklyn, and honestly, it’s the only place in this neighborhood that still feels like the "real" New York people always complain about losing.
It isn't a museum in the way the Met is a museum. Nobody is going to shush you for breathing too loud. There are no marble pillars. Instead, you get a storefront packed to the ceiling with things most people would call junk, but the founder, Dave Herman, saw as holy relics of the five boroughs.
It started in a literal apartment window. Back in the late 90s, Herman just wanted to show off some cool stuff he found. Passersby loved it. Eventually, it grew into this non-profit community space that functions as a chaotic, beautiful love letter to the mundane history of New York City. If you want to see the "spirit" of the city, you don't go to the Empire State Building. You go here.
The weird stuff inside the City Reliquary Museum Brooklyn
Most museums want the "best." They want the gold, the fine art, the stuff that costs millions. The City Reliquary is the opposite. It wants the dirt. It wants the things that lived in your grandma’s junk drawer or under a subway seat in 1974.
The Statue of Liberty Obsession
One of the first things you’ll notice is the sheer volume of Lady Liberty kitsch. We’re talking thermometers, pencil sharpeners, weird plastic toys, and postcards from every era. It’s a bit overwhelming. But when you look closer, you see the evolution of New York’s identity through these cheap souvenirs. There’s something deeply human about how we take a massive copper monument and turn it into a tiny, poorly painted trinket to put on a shelf.
Real pieces of the city
They have actual fragments of New York history that should probably be in a high-security vault but are instead just... there.
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- Old subway tokens: Remember those? Before the MetroCard and way before OMNY, these little brass circles were the lifeblood of the city. The museum has a collection that tracks their design changes over decades.
- Geological core samples: This sounds boring. It isn't. It’s literally the dirt and rock from deep beneath the city streets, pulled up during construction projects. It’s the physical foundation of the skyscrapers.
- L-train scrap: Since the museum is right in Williamsburg, they have a particular fondness for the L train. You might see a piece of a bench or an old sign that was salvaged during a station renovation.
Why community museums matter more than ever
In 2026, everything feels digitized. We experience "history" through TikTok filters or Wikipedia deep dives. The City Reliquary Museum Brooklyn is a physical thumb in the eye of that trend. It’s tactile. It smells a little bit like old paper and dust.
Dave Herman and the rotating cast of volunteers who run the place understand that history isn't just about Great Men and Big Wars. It’s about the Jackie Robinson fans who kept their ticket stubs. It’s about the seltzer delivery guys who worked the streets of Brooklyn for forty years.
They also host the Miss Subways pageant. This is a real thing. It’s a revival of a contest that ran from 1941 to 1976. But in the Reliquary’s version, it’s a weird, queer-friendly, performance-art-heavy celebration of the people who actually use the transit system. It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s perfect.
The struggle to stay "Old New York"
It’s no secret that Williamsburg has changed. The neighborhood has been gentrified into a shiny, expensive version of itself. Rent is astronomical. Small, quirky spaces like this are disappearing every year.
The museum operates as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. They survive on a tiny admission fee—usually around $5 or $10—and the sheer willpower of people who give a damn about local history. When you visit, you aren't just looking at old stuff; you’re helping keep a dying breed of New York institution alive.
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There’s a tension here. The museum documents the very change that threatens to price it out. It’s a living archive of a neighborhood that looks less like the museum's interior every single day.
How to actually visit without looking like a tourist
Don't just walk in, take a selfie with a seltzer bottle, and leave. That’s boring.
First, check their events calendar. They do movie nights in the back garden (yes, there’s a backyard, and it’s one of the best-kept secrets in the area). They do talks on things like the history of the Brooklyn bridge or the evolution of the hot dog.
Second, talk to whoever is behind the desk. Usually, it’s a volunteer who knows an absurd amount of trivia. Ask them about the "reliquary" aspect. The word usually refers to containers for the bones of saints. Here, the "saints" are the everyday New Yorkers, and the "bones" are the scraps of the city they left behind.
Logistics for your trip:
- Location: 370 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211.
- Transit: Take the L to Bedford or the G to Metropolitan. It’s a short walk from either.
- Hours: They are usually only open Thursday through Sunday. Check their Instagram or website before you go because, being a small operation, hours can be "flexible" sometimes.
- The Backyard: If it’s open, go out there. It’s a quiet oasis filled with more architectural salvage and random bits of Brooklyn stone.
What most people get wrong about the place
Some folks walk in and think it’s a "Museum of Bad Art" type of deal. Like it’s a joke. It’s not. There is a profound level of sincerity at the City Reliquary Museum Brooklyn.
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When they display a collection of burnt-out lightbulbs from the Chrysler Building (yes, they have those), it isn't a gag. It’s an acknowledgment that someone had to climb up there and change those bulbs. It’s about the labor and the literal light that makes the skyline what it is.
If you go in looking for a punchline, you’ll miss the point. Go in looking for a connection to the millions of people who lived here before you.
Actionable steps for your Brooklyn adventure
If you're planning to head over, don't make it your only stop, but make it the anchor of your afternoon.
- Start at Crest Hardware. It’s nearby and also has a long history in the neighborhood (and a famous parrot). It fits the vibe.
- Visit the Reliquary mid-afternoon. Give yourself at least an hour. Read the handwritten labels. They’re often funnier and more insightful than the printed ones.
- Donate an extra five bucks. Seriously. These places are hanging on by a thread.
- Grab a drink at a long-standing local bar. Head to The Levee or Kellogg's Diner (which has seen its own share of drama and reopening) to process the weirdness you just witnessed.
The City Reliquary Museum Brooklyn reminds us that we are all leaving bits of ourselves behind in the sidewalk cracks and the trash heaps. It’s a reminder to look down, not just up at the skyscrapers. Stop by. See the seltzer bottles. Remember that your city is made of more than just glass and steel.