A truck driver built a model of NYC with over 800,000 structures for fun. Now it’s a museum exhibit

レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast · Oct 24, 2026 · 1m

For more than two decades, truck driver Joe Macken spent his free time building a massive scale model of his native New York City out of balsa wood and foam board. When he finished, his daughter convinced him to show off the sprawling basement creation—encompassing over 800,000 structures—on TikTok. The video clips almost immediately went viral. Now, Macken's model is on display at the Museum of the City of New York, which reached out to him after seeing his TikTok videos gain more than 10 million views in one week. “He Built This City,” as the exhibit is called, opened in February along…