Joe Macken Spent 21 Years Hand-Assembling a Model of NYC

I wouldn’t know where to begin a project like this, which is currently on exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. The sheer enormity of it is impressive and the value immense as an historical artefact. From the immense structures in the financial district and midtown to the begrassed homesteads of the outer boroughs, nothing appears to be left out.

Macken began working on the 50-by-27-foot model in 2004, first in Middle Village, Queens, before moving to Clifton Park, New York. It comprises 340 individual sections, each built from everyday materials like cardboard and glue, with many of the buildings constructed of balsa wood and detailed with pencil and paint. He completed the structure in 2025, and it’s now on long-term view at the museum, where visitors can walk around it and are encouraged to use binoculars to find familiar buildings and neighborhoods.

Via Colossal