THurd THursday Presents: Rattle & Megan Reilly

Stop by the City Reliquary this THurd THursday, June 17th, for a musical concert of civic proportions. Performing on our backyard stage, not one, not three, but two luminaries of the Brooklyn lo-hi musical ephemera, to perfectly fit our quirky museum categories. Both acts will be performing to suit your musical ears, and as always, Brooklyn Beer will be served nicely chilled. $5 suggested donation, doors open at 7 and the music gets going promptly at 8.

Rattle is a new band comprising Pat Gubler (guitar), Greg Peterson (guitar), Sue Garner (bass) and Rick Brown (drums and electronics). Its members, all of whom also sing, have played in NY for many years in various groups including The Scene Is Now, P.G. Six, Run On, Batillus, The Shams, Metal Mountains and V-Effect. Rattle uses the classic instrumentation of rock music but the result has touches of ambient electronics and Appalachian harmonies, hints of folk-rock and inspirations as varied as black metal and Haitian rara.

Memphis native Megan Reilly’s Let Your Ghost Go “comes on like a fever-dream, slow, hot and swooning, brimming with love and death and sadness and joy…a voice both hazy and powerfully direct…a wonderful, timeless sophomore record of quiet, haunting country pop.” (Other Music) It received 4-Stars from Uncut magazine. “Drop dead gorgeous, melancholy folk-pop of the highest order.” (No Depression) “… as if Dolly Parton sang in her sleep and occasionally wailed in terror at a nightmare.” (Dallas Observer) She’s currently at work on her third album.

June 17th, 7-10pm
$5 suggested donation
At the City Reliquary, 370 Metropolitan Avenue
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Student Exhibition Opens THis THurd THursday: Thursday, June 17, 2010

Urban Memory Project and City Reliquary Museum worked with 20 students and their teacher at the Lyons Community School to study the history and trends of Williamsburg, and to capture their observations with photography. The result is a collection of beautiful photographs that document this neighborhood in transition.

The opening will begin at 5:30pm

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“NOW: In History” at the Williamsburgh Library Auditorium

Tuesday, June 8th 2010, 6:30PM at the Williasmburgh Library Auditorium

This is the first installment of the monthly “Live Newsreel Presentation” at Brooklyn’s FIRST Carnegie Library. Hosted by City Reliquary President Dave Herman, this new lecture series will bring prominent authors, academics, and experts on New York City History to this LANDMARK BUILDING in Southside Williamsburgh. With imminent Brooklyn Public Library budget cuts topping over $20Million and a massive borough-wide cut back on library hours and resources, the historic Williamsburgh Library is losing critical funding. This new program series aims to bring the attention of those who love our local history to a public institute deserving of its support.

June’s Spectacular “NOW: In History” Event will feature: The General Slocum Steamboat Tragedy of 1904, with special slideshow presentation by Edward T. O’Donnell, author of “Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum” At the Williamsburgh Library, 240 Division Ave. at Marcy Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211 t. 718-302-3485.

Admission to all BPL programs is FREE. Donations to the “Support our Shelves” Campaign will be accepted!

Crest Fest 2010!

Saturday, June 19th 2010, 12:00 noon

The profits from this year’s annual Crest Fest 2010 at Crest Hardware, will support the City Reliquary Museum & Civic Organization!

Join us for the opening day celebration of the Crest Hardware Art Show. Crest Fest 2010 brings the community together with art, food, drinks, live music and local vendors.

3rd Ward will be there with bikes, workshops, a photobooth and food! Located at 558 Metropolitan Ave. between Union and Lorimer Sts.

6th Annual Bicycle Fetish Day, Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

WILLIAMSBURGH – It’s a block party for your bicycle! Come and celebrate at our sixth annual Bicycle Fetish Day from noon til night on Havemeyer Street between Grand and Metropolitan Avenues. Biking activities, bike competitions, bike rides, bicycle advocacy groups and artists selling their wares. With a BBQ grill and more, how could you miss this yearly celebration of all things bicycle.

poster-bikeday
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The First Ever Meals & Spiels

The City Reliquary Presents:
The First Ever Meals and Spiels:
An Evening of Dinner & Lectures about NYC Food!
April 27th, 2010 from 7-10pm at The Brooklyn Kitchen

WILLIAMSBURGH, BROOKLYN. The City Reliquary Museum and Civic Organization, in partnership with a host of Brooklyn’s finest purveyors of food, is putting on an event that is NOT to be missed. The First Ever Meals and Spiels, An Evening of Dinner & Lectures about NYC’s Food! Meals and Spiels is a dinner that will focus on the incredible food shops, breweries, bakeries, and kitchens of North Brooklyn. What’s more, each dish and beverage will pair with a lecture about the food on your fork and beverage in your glass!

All proceeds will go towards the City Reliquary’s operational funds, to keep us open to the community at large. Guests will take home a goody bag stuffed with City Reliquary souvenirs, a Not for Tourists guidebook and more!
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The Vanishing Icons of Metropolitan Avenue: A History of Williamsburg’s Handmade Shop Signs from the 1980s

Stanley Wisniewolski with Work

Not so long ago, a number of retro, sculptural shop signs lent a distinctive flavor to the area just east of the BQE in Williamsburg, among them a giant paintbrush, a diamond ring and the hammer that’s still outside Crest Hardware on Metropolitan Avenue. Neighborhood resident and writer Karen Hudes looks into the story behind the signs, about 75 of which were crafted 30 years ago by an artist named Stanley Wisniewolski.

At the exhibit, photos from the city’s Municipal Archives bring to light Williamsburg’s streetscape in the ’80s, which was rich in oversized coffee cups, handbags and cows’ heads made out of Styrofoam marking each storefront. See a collection of Wisniewolski’s original signs on display, find out why the smoke shop installation caused such a stir, and take in the vision of one of the neighborhood’s pioneering graphic designers (who certainly wouldn’t be the last).

Opening party at The City Reliquary
April THurd THursday: April 15th, 2010 @ 7 PM
$3 Brooklyn Brewery beers
Exhibit runs through mid-July.

A Benefit Concert at the Knitting Factory St. Paddy’s Day Night 3/17

Reserve your St. Paddy’s Day Night 3/17
for a BENEFIT CONCERT FOR THE CITY RELIQUARY

At the Knitting Factory, 361 Metropolitan Ave in the Williamsburgh section of Brooklyn
Doors @ 6PM, Show @ 7PM

6:00 PM – Doors open

7:00 PM – Cecilia Brauer, historic glass armonica virtuoso and lecturer

http://www.gigmasters.com/armonica/index.asp

8:00 PM – Drink Me, acoustic duo and Fanta-bottle music
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4994303

9:00 PM – Brian Dewan, with his auto-harp, accordian, melody gin, and “Civic Pride” film strip

http://www.dewanatron.com/

10:00 PM – Frankenpine, the Brooklyn-based bluegrassy string band
http://frankenpinemusic.com/
http://www.youtube.com/frankenpine

11:00 PM – Lucky Chops, Laguardia High School grads’ New Orleans-style brass band
http://www.myspace.com/luckychopsbrassband
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3J6CiKqscE

Tickets $20 available in advance at the Knitting Factory website.

The 3rd Annual Panorama Challenge!

panorama

QUEENS, NY! The Panorama Challenge is back! Come to the Queens Museum of Art on Friday, March 12th from 7-10pm to participate in the world’s ONLY geographical trivia-based game night involving the world’s largest panorama – The Panorama of the City of New York! Participants will compete in teams to test their knowledge of New York City geography. Team members will be asked questions ranging from easy to difficulty as game controllers assist by highlighting landmarks, bridges, neighborhoods and other sites with far-reaching laser pointers. Admission is free and there will be beers sold and snacks served.

The Panorama of the City of New York, originally commissioned by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, is the largest architectural scale model in the world. With a scale of 1 inch: 100 feet, the Panorama has always offered a truly unique view of the five boroughs, one that has left the millions who have seen it in awe. The Panorama made a triumphant return in February after undergoing a massive lighting and multimedia effects upgrade. Now featuring a twelve-minute tour of the model and the city it represents, the recently-upgraded Panorama will continue to transform how viewers experience this one of a kind treasure, and the city it captures in wonderful miniature.

The Levys’ Unique New York!, NY’s First Family of Tour Guides, will host this NYCentric event by pointing out notable icons of New York City via laser pointer as well as giving audio clues to assist the teams. NYCentric events are entertaining events that explore, spotlight and celebrate everything New York City. Produced and hosted monthly by The Levys’ Unique New York!. They aim to introduce New Yorkers and visitors alike to fascinating stories and locales of the city.

The funds raised will benefit The City Reliquary, a one-room museum of curiosities located in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn. A homegrown museum devoted exclusively to New York memorabilia, The City Reliquary’s collection is comprised of everything from fragments of Brooklyn Trolley cars and skyscrapers, to soil samples from all 5 boroughs and an extensive Statue of Liberty collection. Created and produced by Levys’ Unique New York!, New York’s first family of tour guides, performers and event impresarios, the Panorama Challenge is sure to educate and entertain New Yorkers of all walks of life.

INFORMATION:

Friday March 12th, 7-10pm
Queens Museum of Art: Flushing-Meadows Corona Park
FREE! Register your team with [email protected] or 718-287-6177 by Thursday, March 11th

Fire Sale Playing Cards

card-5
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