A huge model of New York, built over 21 years in a basement, is on public display.

"It's almost like when you arrive on a plane and look out the window," describes its creator, Joe Macken, in front of the 15-meter by 8-meter structure, composed of approximately 800.000 pieces of wood fixed to more than 300 polystyrene plates.

"People walk around the city all the time but they don't really see it like this. Usually, they look up. Here, you're looking down," the 63-year-old man continued.

A slight departure from reality, the twin towers, destroyed during the attacks of September 11, 2001, are shown alongside the new One World Trade Center.

Joe Macken, originally from Queens and now living some 270 km north of the city, began his model in 2004, spending a few hours each evening carving portions of New York out of balsa wood.

A hobby encouraged by his wife and three children, he says.

Two decades later, the author himself was surprised to discover his project assembled. "I look at it and I just say to myself: did I really do this?", he told AFP.

The staff at the Museum of the City of New York came up with the idea of ​​exhibiting the model after discovering Joe Macken's work on TikTok, where he has accumulated millions of views.

Elisabeth Sherman, chief curator and deputy director of the museum, hopes that visitors "will find their own stories in the model".

"We want people to rediscover the place where they live, where their family comes from, the places they want to visit, whatever their relationship to the city," she adds.

Built for the 1964 World's Fair, the largest model of New York -- which is also the largest architectural model in the world (867m2) -- is on display at the Queens Museum.