![\"elle-6p-pkg-mini-city-wcbsfj64-hi-res-still-00-01-4312.jpg](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/elle-6p-pkg-mini-city-wcbsfj64-hi-res-still-00-01-4312.jpg#.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nJoe Macken drives a truck for work, but two decades ago, he stumbled upon a very particular passion — carving New York City buildings out of balsa wood.<\/p>\n
Before the days of Google Maps, the 63-year-old Queens-native found street views in library books.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
“I just use basic kindergarten stuff”<\/p>\n
Raised in Middle Village, Macken settled with his wife and children upstate in Saratoga County. And every night after dinner, the cityscape in his basement workshop grew.<\/p>\n
Soon, the buildings became blocks, and the blocks became boroughs, each carved precisely to scale in a miniature Big Apple. \u00a0<\/p>\n
“I started at Rockefeller Center,” he said. “Every inch is 160 feet, so the Empire State Building would be 7-3\/4 inches tall. That’s how I did it.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Each block in Joe Macken’s miniature New York is carved to scale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CBS News New York<\/p>\n
Finally, Macken had 342 panels containing nearly 1 million buildings, big enough to fill half a professional basketball court, as Styrofoam, school glue and hobby paints brought the scene to life.<\/p>\n
“People ask me, ‘What kind of stuff do you use?’ I just use basic kindergarten stuff,” he said.<\/p>\n
The most meaningful section to recreate was his Middle Village neighborhood.<\/p>\n
“I couldn’t wait to get there,” he said. “I didn’t even have to look at the maps. I knew every block.”<\/p>\n
10 million views on TikTok<\/p>\n
Macken was focused on process not publicity — until Erika, his 22-year-old daughter, had an idea.<\/p>\n
“She said, ‘Why don’t you put it on TikTok?’ And I’m like, I don’t even have an account,” Macken said.<\/p>\n
Eventually, he made an account, shared a video, closed the app and promptly forgot about it.<\/p>\n
![\"elle-6p-pkg-mini-city-wcbsfj64-hi-res-still-00-00-5025.jpg](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/elle-6p-pkg-mini-city-wcbsfj64-hi-res-still-00-00-5025.jpg#.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Before the days of Google Maps, Joe Macken found street views in library books.<\/p>\n
CBS News New York<\/p>\n
“When he posted his first video, he said he didn’t even think many people would see it. So he didn’t really realize it was blowing up until I showed it to him,” Erika Macken said.<\/p>\n
“It got 10 million views,” her dad said.<\/p>\n
Now, many of his roughly 300,000 followers leave comments on his posts, gushing over his dedication and attention to detail.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Sometimes I can’t believe … that I actually built this”<\/p>\n
Spectators seemed equally impressed in real life when he laid out the full model at a local fair.<\/p>\n
“I was taking pictures with people. I felt like a celebrity,” he said.<\/p>\n
Museums are showing interest and Macken hopes to find a place to display his work permanently.<\/p>\n
![\"elle-6p-pkg-mini-city-wcbsfj64-hi-res-still.jpg](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/elle-6p-pkg-mini-city-wcbsfj64-hi-res-still.jpg#.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Joe Macken’s mini model of New York City is big enough to fill half a professional basketball court.<\/p>\n
CBS News New York<\/p>\n
“Sometimes I can’t believe it, that I actually built this,” he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
In the meantime, most of the panels are back in a nearby storage unit.<\/p>\n