---
title: He Built This City
link: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/30/he-built-this-city/
source: simonwillison-net
published: 2026-09-30T21:54:19Z
updated: 2026-09-30T21:54:19Z
first_seen: 2026-10-01T00:32:59.748537119Z
labels:
- museums
- new-york
summary: 'I visited the Museum of the City of New York today and got to see He Built This City: Joe Macken’s Model, the 50 x27 feet model of the city built over a 21 year period from balsa wood and cardboard. It exceeded my already high expectations. The exhibition closes on 12th October so you should absolutely make a priority to see it if you get the chance. Tags: museums, new-york'
content: extracted
html: 2026-09-30-he-built-this-city.html
preview:
  file: 2026-09-30-he-built-this-city.preview-d07c41cb99b1.webp
  width: 256
  height: 192
  alt: A wide shot of the model of the island of Manhattan, plus the edge of Brooklyn. It looks so great!
  color: '#8a7565'
images:
- source: https://static.simonwillison.net/static/2026-09-30/image_crop_4853x3640_w2427_q0.3.jpg
  original:
    file: 2026-09-30-he-built-this-city.image-5e5be812d2b2.jpg
    width: 2427
    height: 1820
  color: '#959497'
---

I visited the Museum of the City of New York today and got to see [He Built This City: Joe Macken’s Model](https://www.mcny.org/exhibition/he-built-city), the 50 x27 feet model of the city built over a 21 year period from balsa wood and cardboard.

It exceeded my already high expectations. The exhibition closes on 12th October so you should absolutely make a priority to see it if you get the chance.

![A wide shot of the model of the island of Manhattan, plus the edge of Brooklyn. It looks so great!](https://static.simonwillison.net/static/2026-09-30/image_crop_4853x3640_w2427_q0.3.jpg)

Posted [30th September 2026](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/30/) at 9:54 pm

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This is a **note** by Simon Willison, posted on [30th September 2026](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/30/).

[museums 145](https://simonwillison.net/tags/museums/) [new-york 5](https://simonwillison.net/tags/new-york/)

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