LOL, that's just what I said to the Korean deli-owner who showed me that trick on Thursday. He had the $20 folded up next to the register, and I said "If you're making an airplane out of that twenty, Kim, just sail it over my way". Then he showed me the images and I had to admit it was a little freaky.
What no one has mentioned yet is that at the base of the two "towers" there is a pretty fair representation of the Brooklyn Bridge. Take a look. That solidifies the geography. And yes, I know it's a trick, but it's still weird.
Anyway, I'm betting this was discovered by an Asian. At the Chinese restaurant up the street, the cashier folds all the dollars in the tip jar into fantastic origami animals (which draws more attention to the tip jar itself :D). It's not the first place I've seen that either, so I will assume someone was in the process of folding a twenty into a flying bird or giraffe or something, and happened to take a good look at it. Just a guess, of course, but it sounds reasonable to me.