AMERICANALMANAC (Alex Tanzer) - A truck driver spent two decades building 800,000 tiny structures into a scale model of New York City — now it's a museum exhibit
Joe Macken, a truck driver from upstate New York, turned a basement hobby into a 50-foot replica of New York City that went viral on TikTok and landed a spot at one of Manhattan's most prominent museums. Macken's model, built from balsa wood, foam board, and Elmer's glue over more than twenty years, contains an […] The post A truck driver spent two decades building 800,000 tiny structures into a scale model of New York City — now it's a museum exhibit appeared first on American Almanac .
Joe Macken, a truck driver from upstate New York, turned a basement hobby into a 50-foot replica of New York City that went viral on TikTok and landed a spot at one of Manhattan's most prominent museums. Macken's model, built from balsa wood, foam board, and Elmer's glue over more than twenty years, contains an estimated 800,000 miniature structures spanning all five boroughs, parts of New Jersey, and stretches of suburban Long Island. It sits on more than 300 large foam boards, interconnected like puzzle pieces, and measures nearly 30 feet wide. Each inch represents roughly 160 feet of real city. The exhibit, titled "He Built This City," opened in February at the Museum of the City of New York on Manhattan's museum row near Central Park…Open