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Inside the Secret “Treasures in the Trash” Museum
27th February 2020 @ 3:15 pm - 4:30 pm
While New York Adventure Club does not charge for events hosted by New York City Department of Sanitation, advance registration and a deposit will be required, which will be fully refunded upon attendance. This deposit is taken to discourage no-shows on free events with limited spots.*
What was New York like 5, 10, or 30 years ago? While some might look to books, photographs, or movies for the answer, one sanitation worker made it his mission to tell the city’s story through what New Yorkers threw in the trash — 50,000 pieces and counting.
Join New York Adventure Club for an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look inside the “Treasures in the Trash” Collection, a curated 50,000 piece collection of New Yorkers’ trash dating back to the 1980s — all hidden on the second floor of a New York City Department of Sanitation garage in East Harlem.
Led by Nelson Molina, the sanitation worker who created the collection during his 34-year career, our experience through this secret museum will include:
- Private access to the sprawling collection, which showcases nearly three decades of New Yorkers’ trash (or treasure to those like Nelson)
- A discussion with Nelson around the origins of the collection, from his favorite piece of ‘trash’ to why it’s located on the second floor of an East Harlem sanitation garage
- The opportunity to see and photograph tens of thousands of discarded items, from vintage guitars to shelves of Furbys to autographed baseballs from Yankees Hall of Famers
Click here to see pictures from one of our last visits to the Treasures in the Trash collection!