Boaters were recently surprised to find a man working in a fully outfitted office on a raft anchored in New York’s East River. The office was the brainchild of Improv Everywhere, a New York City-based comedy collective that stages unexpected performances in public places. They refer to the workspace as New York’s Most Socially Distanced Office. 

From their website: The floating office included a water cooler, a battery-powered computer with working internet, and a variety of contemporary office furniture. Workers were transported to the office by a shuttle boat at Brooklyn’s Main Street Park.

The workspace included breathtaking views of the Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, and the Manhattan skyline, providing the ultimate Zoom background. New Yorkers on land and sea were surprised and delighted by the sight of this extreme work from home measure. This unauthorized project was a collaboration with Tideland Institute.

Exactly how socially distanced the floating office was might be open to discussion as power boaters, kayakers, jet skiers, and canoeists stopped by to chat and to take a look at the unique workspace. (His visitors kept interrupting his Zoom conference call.)

Word of the project spread quickly. A woman on a passing boat took a short video and posted it to TikTok. It ended up going viral and got picked up by E! News and People Magazine getting millions of views on their social pages along with lots of confused comments.

Socially Distanced Office Floating in the Middle of the East River in NYC