The New York Times spent some time in a trash-filled two-story brick building earlier this week, conducting research for an article. Except the garbage was carefully curated and arranged by longtime sanitation worker Nelson Molina, who’s been collecting thrown-away gems for more than two decades. He gathers the goods from his route, which runs from 96th Street to 110th Street, and places them in the second floor of a Sanitation Department garage. The unofficial gallery houses paintings, sculptures, ceramics, posters, photographs, objects and more, all taken from trash bags. Now, all of Molina’s friends collect things for him to add to his collection (which he estimates as being more than one thousand pieces strong), though Molina is the sole curator of what makes it into the makeshift museum. Judging by the intricate displays he’s fashioned, it seems Molina has become a bona fide artist in his own right.

Read the article in its entirety here.

Image: Nolan Molina’s Trash Museum, via the New York Times.