a New York Reliquary

"Nik Sokol, the Reliquary's resident geologist, enjoys excavating municipal sites in and around New York City. With his help, the "New Yorker's Geology" exhibits have grown to include bedrock core samples from four of the five boroughs, one of the 175 million bricks used to construct the 19th-century New Croton Aqueduct, stalactites, tap water samples, a cornice from Brooklyn Borough Hall, a Hearst Building baluster, and samples of floor tile from the TWA building at JFK.

The specimens sit like jewels in low glass cases under muted halogen bulbs. A row of vintage seltzer bottles twinkle on the wall. A curtain of yellowing Statue of Liberty postcards is juxtaposed with a mahogany china cabinet filled with statues raising their torches. One case holds first-edition books and records about New York. There are old MTA transfers, subway maps, train car doors, and vintage billy clubs. There are menus from forgotten restaurants and light fixtures from a defunct matzo factory. An enticing walk-in closet is devoted to burlesque and offers a mechanical hula dancer. Brass rings from Coney Island sit near Brooklyn-brand bubble gum and a chunk of paint from a subway station wall. A 2nd Avenue Deli sandwich pick shares velvet with a set of clay dolls from Chinese New Year and a glass ring handmade from the neck of a bottle by children on the Lower East Side, who methodically ground the edges against a curb..."