It reportedly began with a miniature replica of the RCA Building in New York City’s Rockefeller Center, where my own NYC media career started. JM enjoyed the process so much that the next day, he built another building. Then another. And Joe just kept going.
He says there was never a moment when he felt he’d gone too far. Not when he built all of Rockefeller Center. Not when he expanded to all of Midtown. Not when Manhattan was complete. And not even when the entire city of New York took shape.
Macken’s urban sprawl eventually outgrew his basement, forcing the ever-expanding metropolis into a storage facility.
Each square in his miniature world represents roughly one square mile of New York City. For more than two decades, those squares have continued to pile up.
Now, for the first time, Joe Macken’s “Little Apple” is going on display in the Big Apple—at the Museum of the City of New York in Manhattan.