NYC’s “most socially distanced office” has officially been found: floating in the East River, that is, fully equipped with a desk, working computer, and unbeatable view of the Manhattan skyline!
Improv Everywhere, a comedic performance group in New York City known for its pranks, put on their most recent high-jinks this weekend. They collaborated with Tideland Institute — whose mission is to bring culture to New York waters — in the hilarious set-up of a floating socially-distant office on a raft in the East River, to do what Improv Everywhere does best: “create scenes of ‘chaos and joy.’”
“In thinking about things we could do that would be COVID-19 safe, we got excited about the idea of creating something in the middle of the river,” they explained on their website. “With everyone working from home in cramped apartments, we thought a socially distanced office would be the perfect thing.”
The office space was built at Tideland’s property in Queens and then transported to Pebble Beach in DUMBO, where it was brought out into the East River with a Zodiac boat and then anchored in place. It included a battery-powered Mac mini, a desk, chair, file cabinet, sanitizer, waste bin, telephone, and even a water cooler!
The performance group even posed as the NYC Department of Buildings, claiming they were running a “pilot program” when asked by curious New Yorkers on land. They even went as far to put up renderings of what the future of floating WFH desks could look like on the East River:
AND the Improv Everywhere improviser on the raft actually pretended to be on a Zoom call while he “worked” out in the middle of the water! Throughout the day, jet-skiers and boaters were throughly entertained (don’t worry, someone from the group rowed out with snacks and drinks over the course of the “work day”).
Definitely an iconic prank for social-distancing with a sense of humor!
featured image source: ImprovEverywhere.com
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