Truck Driver's Miniature NYC Model Featuring Twin Towers Becomes Museum Exhibit
Joe Macken, a truck driver, spent over two decades constructing a massive scale model of New York City using balsa wood and foam board. This intricate creation, encompassing over 800,000 structures across all five boroughs and parts of New Jersey and Long Island, has now become a museum exhibit titled “He Built This City” at the Museum of the City of New York. The model, which is 50 feet long and nearly 30 feet wide, gained viral attention on TikTok after Macken's daughter shared videos of it. Notably, Macken's model includes the old Twin Towers of the World Trade Center alongside One World Trade Center and other post-2001 skyscrapers, reflecting his personal touches and a desire to preserve certain historical elements of the city. He also recreated his favorite childhood diner in Queens and the old Kosciuszko Bridge, which was demolished in 2017, rather than their modern replacements. Macken, who has no background in architecture or model building, was inspired by an elementary school trip to see the Pano...
