The City Reliquary is excited to announce our next exhibit, Still Manic After All These Years: 50 Years of Manic Panic!
This archival collection, curated by Lee Berman, explores the founding and ongoing legacy of Manic Panic, the iconic line of hair dyes that originated in 1970s New York.
From the humble beginnings of America’s first punk rock boutique on St. Marks Place to a global success story, Manic Panic is as much a story of the city as it is of perseverance. This only-in-New-York tale starts with two sisters from the Bronx, Tish & Snooky Bellomo, who took their DIY ethos and talents from the Lower East Side to around the globe.
The exhibit collects artifacts and ephemera from Tish & Snooky’s early days as punk rockers in the East Village, regularly playing at CBGB alongside iconic bands such as Blondie, through the creation and skyrocketing success of Manic Panic, their original line of hair dyes that remains a cult favorite today.
Come by on October 17th to celebrate the opening and explore the show! Entry is free!
Join The City Reliquary on Friday, October 2nd for free entry to the museum from 7-10pm and a special talk with author Rolando Pujol at 7:30pm.
Rolando Pujol is a lifelong journalist and the creator of The Retrologist, where across Instagram, Substack and other platforms he chronicles America’s vanishing roadside culture. By day, he is the executive producer of digital content, innovation, and strategy at WABC-TV Channel 7 Eyewitness News in New York.
In “The Great American Retro Road Trip,” Pujol takes readers on a coast-to-coast celebration of the nostalgic pleasures of America’s vintage signs, quirky roadside attractions, and offbeat fast-food relics.
City Reliquary board member Kyle Supley will lead a conversation with Pujol as they explore his work documenting nostalgic roadside Americana.
Entry is free and capacity is limited. Please RSVP but note that this event is first come, first served.
Join us for a screening of Patrick O’Hare’s “The Light at Dusk,” a photo-montage film that interweaves still photographs of New York City and upstate New York with a spoken text dealing with themes of memory, time, and the uncanny.
Both the stills and the poems are at times fragmented, cryptic, and on the edge of a disembodied state of awareness. The exploration is of a city as a lonely void, and the country as a place of haunted shapes and forms, that eventually merge with each other and produce a state of mind that transcends the idea of regions and embraces a kind of perpetual transition, impermanence, uncertainty, and foreboding.
The forces and refractions of weather and visual phenomenon in both urban infrastructure and the rural and small-town landscapes provide gestures of a fragile beauty that hover on the edge of futility. A cinematic narrative that follows the contours, specters, illuminations, and visual portals of the everyday.
The short screening will be followed by a discussion with Brent Wahl, a multi-media artist whose photography stages questions about collective identity, our relationship to reality and perception, and the ways we frame our existence. Through ambiguity, contextual, and optical shifts, his work reveals unexpected connections and complicates meaning within the frame. Wahl is a Senior Lecturer at the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania.
Following the conversation, O’Hare’s new book “Memories of a Weather Exposed Skeleton” will be available for purchase, alongside his 2020 release, “Evanescent Cities.” O’Hare’s exhibit in our front room, his short film, and his latest book share many of the same images, allowing audiences the opportunity to engage with his work in a range of formats.
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Come celebrate the opening of two new exhibits that explore the ephemeral everyday in NYC!
In the back gallery, we are thrilled to host Akiva Listman’s “I Appreciate You.” This exhibition honors the physical objects that witness New York City’s daily rhythm and reflect it back to us through their wear and surface qualities. Small pieces of the city, which could otherwise go unrecognized, on display for our delight and understanding.
In the front room, The City Reliquary is pleased to present Patrick O’Hare’s “Views from the Skeletal City,” a series of xeroxes of black and white photographs scanned and rescanned to varying degrees of abstraction and image degradation. The images comprise a dreamscape of various locations in New York City, many on the peripheries of its outer boroughs. An exploration of everyday borders, outposts and spaces, the works utilize weather, light and shadow to reveal an ethereal and fleeting infrastructure we inhabit and move through.
Stop by on August 7th between 7-10pm | FREE ENTRY for all!
An evening with the artists behind two shows currently on display at the City Reliquary Museum:
Front room: “The Rabbits Knew: Drawings from The Rabbit Shows 2012–2025” Drawings by Mark Quinlan
Back room: “Slipping Into Forever Time” Paintings by Michael Craig Tracy
There will be artists talks with Michael Craig Tracy, Mark Quinlan, and City Reliquary founder, Dave Herman.
Each ticket includes 2 specialty drinks by Williamsburgh legendary bartender and artist, Mark Quinlan
Each ticket purchased is also eligible to win one of two prizes: – an original framed Rabbit drawing by Mark Quinlan – an original framed drawing by Michael Craig Tracy
On Friday, June 5, The City Reliquary and Coney Island USA proudly present Miss Subways 2026! This one-night-only extravaganza event celebrating NYC’s favorite mode of transportation takes place at the Sideshows by the Seashore Theater, 1208 Surf Avenue, from 7-10 pm. Tickets are on sale now! ($30 general, $10 for City Reliquary members).
A diverse lineup of contestants will represent their subway line of choice for a panel of local celebrity judges in Costume, Talent, and Interview categories.
The winner will receive the transit tiara, the subway sash, and the title of Miss Subways 2026. (Photo: Nate Dorr @rock_hyrax)
The winner will be crowned by Miss Subways 2025, artist and performer Bimini Cricket! (Photo: Nate Dorr @rock_hyrax)
Abby Fantastic (she/her/Mom), world-renowned burlesque performer and co-producer of Bounce House Burlesque. Representing the A train.
Jess Joseph (she/her), writer, educator, tour guide, and local history (including Miss Subways) expert. Representing the 2 train.
LuXury Leah (she/her), best known for wrestling in Subway Mania, but you should also know her cosplay and charity work through Critical Care Comics. Representing the 4 train.
Trudy Carmichael (she/her), Las Vegas lounge legend bringing improvisational grit and glamor to NYC. Representing the C train.
Alicia Kalsi (she/her), civil servant, award-winning vocalist, puppeteer, and pinball enthusiast. Representing the Franklin Avenue Shuttle.
Kaley Morrison (she/her), sketch and improv comedian, burlesque performer, writer, and advocate for Native and Indigenous artists. Representing the R train.
Sugar Hoops (he/him), creator and performer of circus musical works, specializing in aerial lyra, hoops, and rope darts. Representing the L train.
The Master of Ceremonies
Presiding over this year’s pageant, and bringing her talents to a new realm, is domestic doyenne Brini Maxwell. Described as part Donna Reed, part Mary Tyler Moore, Maxwell makes kitsch feel classy through her unparalleled personal flair for home design, entertaining and savvy household tips. She began sharing her domestic know-how on her eponymous show on cable access and later moved to the Style network. Her love of 20th century culture and design means she’s tickled pink to host Miss Subways 2026, following her turn as a judge of last year’s competition. She’s currently producing content for YouTube and acting as a muse for the art of her creator, Ben Sander.
Special Guest Announcer
Charlie Pellett is a veteran news anchor and reporter for Bloomberg Radio. Most importantly, as one of the designated official voices of the New York City subway system, Charlie Pellett asks riders to “Stand clear of the closing doors, please!” Before joining Bloomberg in 1992, Pellett spent a decade at 1010 WINS in New York City. He also worked as a news writer for CNN, as a disc jockey in Northampton, MA, and co-hosted a Friday night call-in show with former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.
The Celebrity Judges
Each of this year’s Miss Subways judges embodies creativity, love for New York City, and living life to its fullest extent. They’re artists, performers, tastemakers, advocates, and one of the voices of our daily commute.
Joe Coleman, Artist (Photo: Juho Liukkonen)Queerly Femmetastic, Brooklyn Bombshell (Photo: Jaycen Brooks)Bernie Wagenblast
Joe Coleman, Artist
Joe Coleman is a world-renowned painter, writer and performer based in New York. His microscopically detailed paintings have been exhibited for four decades in major museums throughout the world including one-man exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin and the Barbican Centre in London. He was the subject of the award winning feature length documentary How Dark My Love (2025). In 2024, a 450 page monograph of his work and life, A Doorway to Joe, was published byFantagraphics. Joe and his wife Whitney were King Neptune and Queen Mermaid in the 2024 Coney Island Mermaid Parade.
Queerly Femmetastic, Brooklyn Bombshell
Brooklyn Bred bombshell Queerly Femmetastic is a nerdy connoisseur of Blackness. Her pronouns are she, her, and ma’am. This Patron Saint of Multiple Orgasms is inspired by Black shake-dancers, strippers, and hoochie-coochie girls across generations. Known for snatching souls and taking titles, she is Miss Subways 2024, the Silver Tusk Awards 2025 Entertainer of the Year, and Miss Coney Island 2026. Queerly loves the smell of books, practicing sneaky splits, and the feeling of your money on her skin.
Bernie Wagenblast, voice of the New York City Subway
Bernie Wagenblast’s voice was first heard by folks in the Tri-State Area in 1979 when she made her debut on New York radio as a traffic reporter. Since 2009 her voice is heard daily by millions of riders on the New York City subway (“Please stand away from the platform edge!”). She also is the voice of the AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport and on PATCO in South Jersey and Philadelphia. At the start of 2023 Bernie came out as a transgender woman and has used her celebrity to raise trans visibility. More recently, she was asked by Lin-Manuel Miranda to serve as the voice of the train conductor on the Warriors album. She has been named as one of the grand marshals for the 2026 NYC Pride March. Follow Bernie at @cranford_radio
Miss Subways 2026 will be held on Friday, June 5, at Coney Island’s Sideshows by the Seashore Theater: 1208 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY! We’ll celebrate our city’s iconic 24-hour transit system with a one-night-only evening of eclectic performance and civic spirit.
Tickets are $30, or $10 for City Reliquary members. Reliquary membership costs $10/month.
Want to come for free? We’re seeking contestants for this year’s event. Complete the application form at the link by 11:59pm on Tuesday, May 12 (EXTENDED!) to be considered! Finalists will be selected, and all applicants notified, by Friday, May 15.
Contestants will compete in THREE CATEGORIES evaluated according to creativity, originality, and skill:
Costume
Talent
Interview
Last year’s performances included a tribute to the R46 subway cars accompanied by a handcrafted puppet, an operatic ode to reading on the train, a draglesque number embodying a puddle of subway goo, contortion, comedy, and a subway rat rap. Feats of strength, humorous powerpoints, we’re seeking any kind of talent that embodies the spirit of NYC and the subway system that keeps it running. Show us what you’ve got!
More information about the event, including our judges panel and ticket information, coming soon!
ABOUT MISS SUBWAYS
The City Reliquary Miss Subways updates the historic “Miss Subways” beauty contest held in New York City from 1941 to 1976 (and resurrected once by the MTA in 2004) for the 21st century. The event expands on the progressive history of Miss Subways as the first racially integrated beauty competition and invites contestants of all gender identities, body types, and ages 18+ to apply. The first City Reliquary Miss Subways was presented in 2017.
Contestants representing their subway line of choice compete for the prized title of Miss Subways and the transit tiara. A panel of local celebrity judges will evaluate their costumes, talent performances, and answers to subway-themed questions to decide who will represent NYC straphangers as the next Miss Subways!
The winner will join an illustrious lineup. Past winners of the City Reliquary Miss Subways are artist and comedianLisa Levy(Miss Subways 2017), urban planner Parker MacLure (Miss Subways 2018), musician and director Dylan Mars Greenberg (Miss Subways 2019), marketing pro and performer Harmony Hardcore (Miss Subways 2023–the first since the pandemic), Brooklyn chanteuse Queerly Femmetastic (Miss Subways 2024), and multi-hyphenate performer Bimini Cricket (Miss Subways 2025).
ABOUT CONEY ISLAND USA
Coney Island USA exists to defend the honor of American popular culture through innovative exhibitions and performances. Presenting and producing exciting new works, our approach is rooted in mass culture and the traditions of P.T. Barnum, dime museums, burlesque, circus sideshows, vaudeville, and Coney Island itself. Preserving and championing a set of uniquely American visual and performing art forms, we seek to create an international forum for cultural preservation and discourse, and where Coney Island represents these impulses, we strive to make it once again a center for live art and entrepreneurial spirit. Learn more at https://www.coneyisland.com/. Follow on Instagram at @coney.island.usa and on Facebook at @coneyislandusa.
The City Reliquary’s Panorama Challenge returns on Friday, April 17, 2026! The 15th edition of the beloved trivia game will take place at the Queens Museum’s Panorama of the City of New York, a scale model of the five boroughs created for the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair.
Since the City Reliquary first launched the Panorama Challenge at the Queens Museum in 2007, the event has regularly drawn the top dogs in NYC trivia. Emcee Gary Dennis and Quizmaster Jonathan Turer, founder of KnowItAllNewYorker.com, are back with a new batch of city-themed stumpers including “Chronically Online” (NYC Viral Moments), “The Road Where it Happens” (The City on Broadway), and other areas of urban history and lore.
Ticketing and team registration are open! Buy online in advance for a discount ($25 vs. $30 at the door). Members of the City Reliquary or Queens Museum get an even deeper discounted admission of $20. A link to team registration will be sent with ticket purchase confirmation.
This exciting evening of trivia puts the whole city at your feet. Teams of Panorama Pros (experts) and Panorama Challengers (amateurs) get quizzed on all things NYC using the Panorama as a massive game board. The winning Pro team will become part of Panorama Challenge history when its name is etched on the Panorama Challenge Trophy alongside past Pro team winners.
Shuttle service will be provided for guests between the 111th Street 7 train station to Queens Museum.
Questions? Reach out to us at [email protected]. See you at the Panorama!
Intimate Portrait: Profile of a Mid-Century Manhattan Creative Couple on view in the City Reliquary exhibition hall, will host a closing reception on Saturday, October 18 2025, from 7 – 9pm.
Free and open to the public, no RSVP required.
Learn more about the exhibition and view new interview footage with curator Lee Berman at our exhibitions page.
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