Joe Macken carved a detailed balsa-wood miniature of New York City over 21 years, including the five boroughs plus parts of neighboring areas. The model comprises 350 sections that assemble into a 50-by-30-foot display for public viewing at the Cobleskill Fairgrounds. The build includes iconic structures such as One World Trade Center, the Chrysler Building, Manhattan Courthouse, a pint-sized Statue of Liberty, and both the Twin Towers and One World Trade Center by creative choice. The project began in 2004 after moving out of the city and drew inspiration from the Queens Museum Panorama. The work used simple tools and about $10,000 in materials.
Queens truck driver Joe Macken has spent the last 21 years carving a miniature version of the five boroughs (plus bits of Long Island, Westchester and New Jersey) out of balsa wood. His TikTok clips, where skyscrapers rise no taller than a ruler and bridges can be held like action figures, have racked up millions of views, turning him into an unlikely internet star. Now, Macken is finally letting the public see his hand-built metropolis in person.
Walking through his wooden New York, you'll spot icons like One World Trade Center, the Chrysler Building, the Manhattan Courthouse and even a pint-sized Statue of Liberty. Entire neighborhoods-SoHo, Wall Street, Greenwich Village-have been whittled down into pocket-sized blocks, while bridges like the Verrazzano-Narrows and Bronx-Whitestone can be picked up and repositioned with ease. There are even a few creative liberties: Macken's New York includes both the Twin Towers and One World Trade Center, because, , "They're my favorite buildings."
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