At the Museum of the City of New York, visitors are about to experience New York City in a way few people ever have before. He Built This City: Joe Macken’s Model introduces one of the most ambitious handmade architectural tributes to New York ever created, a sprawling, deeply personal recreation of the city built entirely by hand over more than two decades. For the first time in the city that inspired it, the monumental model by Queens-born artist Joe Macken is being presented to the public, giving visitors the chance to see all five boroughs of New York rendered through patience, imagination, and an extraordinary level of dedication.
Spanning roughly 50 by 27 feet and composed of hundreds of individual sections, the model captures the skyline, neighborhoods, and character of New York with remarkable precision. Macken began building the project in 2004, working first in Middle Village, Queens and later in Clifton Park, New York. The work quickly evolved into something far larger than he initially imagined. “I never imagined I would be able to finish it,” Macken says. “I was just enjoying building it.”
The inspiration for the project goes back much further, back to a moment in first grade that quietly shaped the course of his creative life. Macken still remembers a school trip to the famous city model at the Queens Museum. “I went on a field trip when I was in the first grade to the Queens Museum,” he recalls. “We visited the Panorama, which is a large-scale model of New York City. I said to my classmate, ‘I am going to build one of these myself one day.’” Decades later, that childhood promise became a reality.
When Macken began constructing his own version of the city, he started with one of New York’s most recognizable buildings, the iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza. From there, the project expanded steadily until it became a complete portrait of the entire city. “I built all the neighborhoods, all five boroughs,” Macken says. “I wanted to include the whole city.” For him, representing every borough was essential because each one tells a different story about New York. “Each borough has its own character,” he explains. “For example, the Bronx is the only borough that’s connected to the mainland of New York State. All the other boroughs are islands.”
The scale of the project required an extraordinary level of patience and organization. Macken approached the construction as a giant puzzle that would slowly come together piece by piece over many years. “Three hundred fifty sections, one at a time, like a puzzle,” he explains. “Connecting each finished piece to the next, a total of 342 boards.” Each section had to align perfectly with the next, gradually forming a sweeping urban landscape that viewers can now walk alongside and explore visually.
What makes the achievement even more remarkable is the simplicity of the materials used to create it. Macken did not rely on expensive equipment or advanced modeling technology. Instead, he built the entire city using humble tools and craft supplies. “Materials are balsa wood, Styrofoam, Elmer’s glue, hobby paint, a X-Acto knife and a saw,” he says. With these everyday materials, he carved, shaped, and assembled buildings ranging from modest residential blocks to towering skyscrapers.
The process was filled with challenges from the beginning, but those challenges became part of what kept him motivated. “Endless challenges from the beginning,” Macken says. “But that’s what made me not stop.” Rather than seeing obstacles as reasons to quit, he treated each problem like an engineering puzzle waiting to be solved. “I welcome challenges,” he explains. “I always thought of it as an engineer building a skyscraper. You have to figure everything out in order to complete the task. Either way it’s going to be built. It has to be figured out.”
As the model expanded, it began to include many of the most famous buildings in the New York skyline. Among the most difficult to construct, and one of Macken’s favorites, is the legendary Empire State Building. “The most difficult building was also one of my favorites, the Empire State Building,” he says. “With the way it’s geared and with the point.” Recreating the building’s iconic stepped design and spire required careful craftsmanship and patience.
Another meaningful element of the model is Macken’s recreation of the original World Trade Center towers. For him, including them was both personal and historical. “My favorite personal touch is the World Trade Center,” he says. “My favorite buildings. I wanted to keep those so people can see how tall they were.” Their presence in the model offers visitors a powerful reminder of how dramatically the skyline has changed over time.
Because the project stretched across more than two decades, Macken also had to adapt the model as the city itself evolved. New towers rose across Manhattan and beyond while he was still constructing the miniature landscape. “I had to do many new buildings in the 22 years,” he says. “Mostly skyscrapers.” The result is a living portrait of New York that captures both the city’s architectural history and its constant transformation.
For many years, Macken simply built the model for his own satisfaction without imagining where it might eventually end up. “I never thought it would be in a museum,” he admits. That changed when people began seeing the model during early displays and encouraging him to share it more widely. “Until I had it displayed the first time and many people kept saying it should be in a museum.”
Now that moment has arrived. Installed inside the Dinan Miller Gallery at the Museum of the City of New York, the model sits near exhibitions like New York at Its Core and Timescapes, creating a dialogue between history, storytelling, and artistic interpretation of the city’s built environment. Visitors can trace the outlines of familiar neighborhoods and landmarks while experiencing the scale of the city in an entirely new way.
For Macken, seeing the project completed and displayed publicly is both emotional and deeply rewarding. “It feels amazing seeing it finally displayed,” he says. “A dream come true.” What means the most to him, however, is watching visitors encounter the model for the first time. “I love to see the look on people’s faces when they see it.”
Despite creating one of the most impressive handmade models of New York ever built, Macken’s everyday life remained far removed from the art world for most of those years. “Biggest fun fact about me is I am a truck driver,” he says. “So I never had to speak with too many people.” But the attention surrounding the exhibition has opened a new chapter for him. “I realized in the last few months how much I enjoy talking to people and how much fun it is getting all this recognition.”
Now that his decades-long project is complete, Macken hopes to continue sharing it with audiences far beyond New York. “I plan on keeping it displayed for people to enjoy,” he says. “Anywhere in the world. I’ll keep moving it wherever I can.” After more than twenty years of dedication, patience, and imagination, his handmade New York City model stands as both a tribute to the city and proof that a childhood promise, spoken casually during a first-grade field trip, can grow into something truly extraordinary.
