The City Reliquary Museum

The City Reliquary, in a small storefront on Metropolitan Avenue, is a community museum devoted to the bits of New York that bigger institutions overlook: souvenirs, signs, civic odds and ends and the collections of ordinary New Yorkers. It runs on neighborhood energy, with rotating exhibitions, author talks and opening parties through the year, and in autumn 2026 its show Still Manic After All These Years celebrates 50 years of Manic Panic, the downtown hair-dye brand. The Reliquary also hosts the annual Panorama Challenge, a trivia night held on the Queens Museum's scale model of the city.

The museum's visit page lists Thursday-through-Sunday opening, with visits by appointment at other times, and tour groups are welcome. Admission details differ between sources, so check the website or call before you go. It's a short visit, 30 to 45 minutes, which makes it an ideal stop on a Williamsburg wander; the Lorimer Street and Metropolitan Avenue stations on the L and G are a short walk away. Check the events calendar, since openings and talks are the most fun way to see the place.