Hey, Greenpoint! I know you’re always looking for that history fix, and North Brooklyn has you covered. There are several wonderful history events coming up this weekend and in the next few weeks! But, at any time, our lovely little ‘nabe is jam-packed with fabulous institutions where you can dive into an exploration of what has shaped our city, from sugar, to garbage, to oysters! The array is so gloriously wide, it helps remind us that everything is history, and there’s a history of everything!
City Reliquary
Perhaps the best place to learn about “the history of everything” in New York City, is our very own City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Avenue). The museum’s collection of artifacts and ephemera includes everything from vintage seltzer bottles to Dodgers fan merchandise and memorabilia from the 1939 World’s Fair. The museum also features community collections and rotating exhibits. The current exhibit, NYC Trash!: Past, Present and Future, is on view until April 29, 2018. The Reliquary will host a screening of the film Canners THIS SATURDAY 1/27 @ 7pm.
The Williamsburg Art and Historical Center
The next day, head over to The Williamsburg Art and Historical Center (135 Broadway). The museum is housed in the landmarked Kings County Savings Bank Building, and has been supporting arts and culture in Williamsburg since 1996.The 19th Annual Salon Show is on view until February 18, 2018. THIS SUNDAY 1/29 @ 2pm Salon Members will hold special travel presentations. Continue reading →
You’ve certainly heard their carts clanking down the sidewalks of NYC, and maybe you’ve also seen them sorting through your trash bins before recycling day. These are NYC’s “canners”—people who collect giant piles of cans and bottles and exchange them for money at a nickel a piece. The recent documentary film Canners examines the lives of these dedicated folks who are just trying to earn some cash, and according to the NY Times, “delivers a powerful ethical message about what it means to live in a city, and how each of us can choose to acknowledge or ignore our fellow citizens”. The film is screening this Saturday (1/27) evening at City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Ave) at 7pm, with a Q&A session from director Manfred Kirchheimer. Also in attendance will be team members from Sure We Can, a nonprofit recycling center and community space featured in this film.
North Brooklyn friends! Neighbors! Local NYC artifacts museum and good ol’ fashioned fun organization The City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Avenue) is hosting their holiday party this Sunday, December 10th from 12pm-3pm. Expect holiday treats and beverages for kids and adults, and a visit from Santa!
Tickets are $5 for adults and free for kids 12 & under.
NY Sun Works’ Greenhouse Project at PS84, Image Credit: Ari Burling
This Saturday and Sunday, October 14 and 15, Open House New York will present a citywide celebration of architecture and urban design, for the 15th year in a row. One of the largest architecture festivals in the country, with more than 200 buildings and projects across the five boroughs, from historic to contemporary, will be opened up over the weekend for tours and talks with architects, urban planners, historians, preservationists, and city leaders.
The advance reservation tours are all sold out, but don’t worry—there are several unique locations you can still visit sans reservations (and for FREE) in North Brooklyn, as well as a couple not-to-be-missed in Long Island City. Check out the list below!
[[ NORTH BROOKLYN ]]
NY Sun Works’ Greenhouse Project at PS84 | 250 Berry St Saturday 10am-2pm The rooftop greenhouse at PS84 serves as an urban farm and hydroponic science lab for K-8th grade students. The lab was developed and programmed by NY Sun Works, a non-profit that builds hydroponic science labs in urban schools to teach students and teachers about the science of sustainability. Continue reading →
Lisa Levy is crowned Miss Subways 2017! Photo by Megan Penmann.
Last Thursday, mermaids, sword swallowers and oracles joined their fellow New Yorkers in the back garden at City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Avenue) for the Miss Subways Pageant 2017. All thirteen contestants displayed their stunning talents, and even more exciting costumes, in hopes of being crowned Miss Subways 2017. Each contestant took to the stage to express love for the subterranean system that connects us all (when its not being held by the dispatcher). The night was alive with Transit Tarot, Subway Striptease, an ode to the G Train, and a whole lot of Razzle Dazzle.
SUZQ, regal representative of the N and W trains. Photo by Megan Penmann
The Reliquary invited community members to enter the competition, and New Yorkers from all over town turned out for the fun. To enter, each contestant had to write a short essay about their favorite subway line and why it “inspires/enrages/enchants.” There were representatives from myriad lines. An L Train Drag Queen competed against an F Train Oracle, a 6 Train Singer and a Q Train Mermaid. A panel of local civic heroes and celebrity judges including Janeane Garofalo, downtown art icon Reverend Jen Miller, NY1 reporter Roger Clark and writer, comedian, author and producer Baratunde R. Thurston ultimately crowned Lisa Levy Miss Subways 2017.Continue reading →
Miss Subways 1968 contestants (Frank Hurley/New York Daily News)
Local cultural ephemera museum The City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Ave) is seeking contestants for its 2017 Miss Subways Pageant, happening in September. “In a night of performances spanning the classy, the trashy, the weird, and the whimsical, contestants will demonstrate their love, frustration, and ultimate devotion to their subway line of choice. But only one will take home the transit tiara!”
Via The City Reliquary:
We’re seeking Miss Subways 2017!
On Thursday, September 28 at 7 PM, The City Reliquary Museum will host The 2017 Miss Subways Pageant. You might remember that the Reliquary celebrated NYC’s most maligned line with its 2009 “Miss G Train” competition. How things have changed! The G is now one of the most reliable lines in the system. Clearly, something must be done.
The “Summer of Hell” is upon us. These days straphangers are filled with dread over a stalled train, signal failure, or sick passenger leaving them trapped in a dark, sweltering transit nightmare. Between its deteriorating equipment and the massive crowds cramming into its cars each day, our 112-year-old system, though still a marvel of public transportation, is showing some wear and tear. Governor Cuomo’s “MTA Genius Grant Challenge” suggests we’re on our own in this mess, so it’s time for the people to take matters into their own hands. Continue reading →
♦ SummerScreen: Donnie Darko @ McCarren Park, 6pm, FREE, 16th anniversary celebration of Donnie Darko. Gates open at 6pm, grunge-infused rockers Sharkmuffin plays the TIDAL Rising Stage at 7:30pm, and the film starts at sundown, More info # Banned Countries Dinner Series: Sudan Edition @ Franklin Guesthouse (214 Franklin St), 6:30pm, $125, Celebrate Sudanese food and culture by enjoying a family-style feast inspired by Omer Eltigani, author of the forthcoming cookbook The Sudanese Kitchen. Multiple courses, unlimited house wine and vegetarian options are available, Buy tix ♫ WHAT NOW? Sessions: The Sifer, Sakinah Iman, Paco G Train Bandit @ Terra Firma (119 Ingraham St), 8pm, $5, Fusion of the Hip Hop cypher and the Jazz jam session. Emcees bring your bars. Singers bring your melodies. Musicians bring your instruments. Everyone bring your vibe and let’s rock out, RSVP * Microdosing Workshop: Sacred Plants to Enhance Mind-Body-Spirit @ Narayana Integrative Center (191 Nassau Ave), 8:15pm, $20, Learn how you can feel better, increase energy, improve focus, inspire creativity, balance mood, relax, sleep well, and expand awareness with sacred plant microdosing, More info
THURSDAY 7/20
# American Food and Immigration Policy @ MOFAD (62 Bayard St), 6:30pm, $20, An evening of thought-provoking discussion, followed by an informal reception featuring light refreshments from Brooklyn Brewery and Sonia Perez, a street cart vendor and member of Street Vendor Project’s Leadership Council, More info ♦ Superhero Figure Drawing @ Brooklyn Art Library (28 Frost St), 7pm, $10, Practice your cape drawing skills, with everything from pen to graphite — but leave your kryptonite at home, Buy tix * 3D VHS Festival @ The City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Ave), 7pm, $10, In the garden, the Museum of Interesting Things takes us back to a future that the past never saw coming! See excerpts from movies–not just on VHS, but 3D VHS, More info ♦ Jonathas de Andrade Presents Bodanzky and Senna’s Iracema @ Light Industry (155 Freeman St), 7:30pm, $8, Inspired by neorealism as well as the films of John Cassavetes and Jean Rouch, the directors constructed Iracema by enacting a road-movie scenario inside everyday settings, combining artifice and documentary to yield a richly atmospheric parable whose lessons still maintain a grim relevance, More info ♫ DJ Questlove Presents: Bowl Train @ Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Ave), 11:30pm, $10, Buy tix Continue reading →
The City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Ave) is hosting their 13th annual family-friendly block party for bikes and celebration of NYC diversity, aptly named Bicyle Fetish Day. The fetish-tivities will happen on Havemeyer St. between Hope & Grand Street on Saturday, June 24, from 12pm-6pm. The event is FREE and open to the public.
If you are in love with your two wheels, bring it down to the fest—you could win a trophy, prizes, and a year of bragging rights! Continue reading →
FRIDAY 4/28 *♦ Greenpoint Gallery Night #10 @ All Over Greenpoint 6pm, FREE, The historic neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is filled with exceptional galleries, alternative exhibition spaces, and working artists. Greenpoint Gallery Night is a voluntarily organized event happening twice a year in an effort to highlight the art scene in this unique corner of Brooklyn. More info
TUESDAY 5/2 *♦ Greenpoint Open Studios Artist Sign-Up Party @ No. 7 North (931 Manhattan Ave.) 7-10pm, FREE, Registered GOS artists and artists who sign up on the spot will receive one FREE BEER! More info
WEDNESDAY 4/26 * Lunation New Moon In Taurus: Shakti Transmission @ Golden Drum (97 Green St) 7:30pm, $25, Reset through a clear head and open heart through Kundalini as taught by Yogi Bhajan. Ground yourselves with a sacred New Moon ritual to plant your intentions that are aligned with your higher self while letting go of stagnant energy that keeps us from vibrating higher, More info *A Clockwork Orange @ Brooklyn Bazaar (150 Greenpoint Ave) 8pm, FREE, Clockwork Orange screening in the Main Ballroom! Restaurant and bar open before, during and after the movie! In an England of the future, Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his “Droogs” spend their nights getting high at the Korova Milkbar before embarking on “a little of the old ultraviolence,”, RSVP ♫ Anni Rossi / I Am The Polish Army / Echo Moth / Jane Church @ Good Room (98 Meserole Ave) 8pm, $5-7, Buy tix THURSDAY 4/27 * BettVR With Age @ A/D/O (29 Norman Ave) 7pm, FREE, A virtual reality film series created to benefit the senior community. Short documentary screening as well as five interactive virtual reality stations to experience some of the VR films that comprise Kahana’s innovative project, More info ^ Jamie Brenner presents The Forever Summer with Amy Poeppel @WORD Brooklyn (126 Franklin St) 7pm, FREE, Celebrate the release of Jamie Brenner’s latest novel, THE FOREVER SUMMER. Jamie Brenner will be in conversation with Amy Poeppel, author of SMALL ADMISSIONS, More info ♦ Notes from A North Korean Tour Bus @ UnionDocs (322 Union Ave) 7:30pm, $10, Matt Hulse has been traveling to and from North Korea, working as a tour guide for Beijing-based Koryo Tours. He’s been capturing his experiences on camera and also recording the soundscapes of that isolated and little-understood country, Buy tix ♦ Post-Dance 3X3: Devices @ Panoply Performance Laboratory (104 Meserole St) 8pm, Pay-what-u-can, Three movement artists perform their own work, detly disabusing us of any remaining subject-object dichotomies while distanciating, operating and defining other (non)human devisions, distances, differences and devices, More info Continue reading →
# ItaliaNites: Malèna @ Archestratus (160 Huron St) 7:30pm, FREE, Viewing of Giuseppe Tornatore’s Malèna in celebration of la Festa delle Donne (International Women’s Day). A coming of age film, it follows one teenage boy’s infatuation with a village siren during World War II Sicily, RSVP ♫ NVRSleep: Across The Pond Edition @ Kinfolk 90 (90 Wythe Ave) 9pm, FREE, An Experimental Music Platform for Today’s Creative Class. Audio trip Across the Pond via Jamaal Fisher, Nasty Nigel, Rodney Hazard, and Special Guests, RSVP =) Popcorn Hour @ Annoyance Theatre (367 Bedford Ave) 9:30pm, $5, See New York’s finest comedians put on a show for you that’ll leave you much more satisfied than a damn $15 movie and $20 soda. Free popcorn, Buy tix
THURSDAY 3/9 * Reclaiming Our Estuary: The Newtown Creek Experience @ LaGuardia Community College (31-10 Thomson Ave), 4pm, FREE, Learn about rediscovering the commons, our waterway and its life, case studies, and the future of Newtown Creek, RSVP # Global Flavors: How Curry, Soy Sauce, and Sriracha Became American @ MOFAD (62 Bayard St), 6:30pm, $10, Learn how soy sauce, curry, and Sriracha became part of everyday dining. How have these three distinct flavors come to represent Asian food in the US, Buy tix ♦ FREE LIKE OSCAR: Resistance Through Afro-Latino Culture @ City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Ave), 7pm, $8-10, A discussion with Melinda González, co founder of BombaYo, on Latino cultural traditions rooted in the African diaspora that are particularly effective at teaching us resistance and resilience, More info
City Reliquary
The Williamsburg Art and Historical Center
WEDNESDAY 7/19
THURSDAY 7/20
FRIDAY 4/28
WEDNESDAY 4/26
THURSDAY 4/27
WEDNESDAY 3/8
* Reclaiming Our Estuary: The Newtown Creek Experience @ LaGuardia Community College (31-10 Thomson Ave), 4pm, FREE, Learn about rediscovering the commons, our waterway and its life, case studies, and the future of Newtown Creek, 
