He Built This City: Joe Macken's Model

Queens-born artist Joe Macken began the project in 2004. Over the next 21 years, working first in Middle Village, Queens and later in Clifton Park, New York, he devoted himself to crafting a vast architectural portrait of the city he calls home. Built entirely by hand using everyday materials—including balsa wood, cardboard, and glue—the model spans 50 by 27 feet and comprises 320 individual sections. It renders the city’s skyline, neighborhoods, and landmarks with remarkable precision, character, and imagination. Macken started with the Comcast Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, infusing its familiar form with details that signal his personal artistic vision.

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Wood model of a New York cityscape with iconic landmarks and public transportation in blue.

Iconic New York City Skyline with Subway

Hand Stitched Iconic NYC Landmarks by Sophie Reid

Hand Stitched Iconic NYC Landmarks by Sophie Reid

Product title: Iconic NYC Yellow Taxi 3D Wood Model. The image shows a small wooden model painted in bright yellow with black details, shaped like a classic New York City checker cab. The body is simple and rectangular with clean cut‑out features, and a small “New York Taxi” sign sits on the roof in a black outline with yellow lettering. The smooth wood surface and bold colors make the miniature instantly recognizable as an iconic NYC taxi.

Iconic NYC Yellow Taxi 3D Wood Model

NYC DIY Stitched Greeting Card Kit

NYC DIY Stitched Greeting Card Kit

Hand Stitched Iconic NYC Landmarks x 4

Hand Stitched Iconic NYC Landmarks x 4

Product title: Iconic New York City 3D Wood Model. The image shows a small, bright red 3D laser‑cut wood model featuring simplified, block cut‑out shapes of New York City icons, including buildings, a bridge, a hot dog, and a classic checker cab. The word “New York” appears in bold along the base. It stands upright as a decorative miniature capturing classic NYC character.

Iconic New York City 3D Wood Model

Empire State Building Mini Blocks

Empire State Building Mini Blocks

Product title: Brooklyn Bridge Mini Blocks.
A small Brooklyn Bridge model built from lightweight plastic bricks. Two brownish‑grey towers with arched openings support a flat roadway, with thin pieces forming the diagonal suspension cables. The simplified block style creates a compact, recognizable bridge set on a blue base showing the East River and a small tugboat beneath.

Brooklyn Bridge Mini Blocks

Staten Island Ferry Wood Model —
A flat‑packed wooden model made of thin, smooth pieces with clean edges. Each piece is flat and lightweight, printed in bright orange with no raised texture. When assembled, the pieces slot together to form a simple, rectangular ferry shape with stacked layers suggesting decks. The finished model is small, sturdy, and has no moving parts.

Iconic Staten Island Ferry 3D Wood Model

New York City Pocket Blocks

New York City Pocket Blocks

A small, salmon-pink wooden model shaped like a classic New York City subway car. The body is long and rectangular with smooth edges and simple cut‑out details suggesting windows and doors. The surface is flat and painted in a bold, uniform salmon-pink, giving it a clean, graphic feel. It stands upright on its base and captures the familiar silhouette of an NYC train in a compact, tactile form.

Iconic NYC Red Subway Car 3D Wood Model

Book title: Decoding Manhattan: Island of Diagrams, Maps and Graphics. The cover uses New York’s grid layout, with yellow blocks and white vertical avenues and horizontal streets filling the page. The title appears in a modern black font, running vertically from top to bottom at the center.

Decoding Manhattan: Island of Diagrams, Maps and Graphics

New York: Panorama Pops

New York: Panorama Pops

Postcard: Build Your Own New York City Landmark

Postcard: Build Your Own New York City Landmark

Miniature: 4" Empire State Building with King Kong

Miniature: 4" Empire State Building with King Kong

Miniature: Statue of Liberty - Green 7"

Miniature: Statue of Liberty - Green 7"

Clear Glass Snowglobe with silver base. Inside is a selection of famous NYC landmarks rendered in silver and gold.

Snow Globe: NYC Silver Snow

Snow Globe: NYC White —
A round glass snow globe about 4 inches wide and 4.5 inches tall. Inside the clear globe is a small white model of New York City landmarks, including simplified shapes of the Chrysler Building, One World Trade Center, and the Wall Street bull. The buildings are smooth with no raised texture. The globe sits on a solid square black base with flat sides. When shaken, fine white flakes swirl around the miniature skyline. The overall shape is compact.

Snow Globe: NYC White

Miniature: 6" Empire State Building with King Kong

Miniature: 6" Empire State Building with King Kong

MTA Wooden Train Set

MTA Wooden Train Set

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