Joe Macken will expand the nearly 1 million-piece replica by adding 50 new buildings and recreating parts of New Jersey and Long Island
NEED TO KNOW
- Truck driver Joe Macken spent more than two decades building a massive handmade mini replica of New York City in his home
- The model went viral on TikTok and is now on display at the Museum of the City of New York
- The exhibit, called “He Built This City: Joe Macken’s Model” will remain on display at the Museum of the City of New York through Oct. 12
Joe Macken — the truck driver whose handmade miniature replica of New York’s five boroughs went viral and is now on display in a New York City museum — said he isn’t done yet.
Macken, whose replica has been on display at the Museum of the City of New York since February, began working on the model — which measures 50 feet by 27 feet and entails nearly 1 million individual pieces — at his home in upstate New York over two decades ago, carving tiny pieces out of balsa wood.
Macken — who describes building the model as a personal “obsession” — said he now plans to expand the replica even further and is gearing up to add 50 new buildings while recreating parts of New Jersey and Long Island, per the Associated Press…