It's probably not really a practical option for most people, but nevertheless, it is a good example for finding a creative, cheap and fun alternative to how "everybody else" is doing things.
I really don't know what is less dangerous at this point. To continue to ride to work in a soul and oxygen sucking subway car where the chances of seeing a talented busker and a recently released psychiatric patient brandishing a lead pipe are about equal or getting in that collapsable boat.
My "ex" (also an engineer) had a foldable boat and a foldable camper. His boat was big enough for 4 people and he had an outboard for it. It fit on the roof of his truck when it was folded. One time we took it out on the Atlantic, and I went swimming.
I understand that commuting on the Hudson River underneath the GWB on a collapsable boat sounds more insane than it actually is, but IMHO that still does not remove it from being categorized as completely fucking insane. Maybe in his mind its just a body of water between two land lines like its Walden Pond or something, I know engineer types look at things differently, analytically removing personal fear and acts of God, but that's a whole bunch of what if's to be traversing alone every morning.
Since he's a google engineer, why not design some type of commuting submarine or underwater vacuum tunnel that just sucks yuppies into Manhattan. The area definitely needs more alternatives for crossing the Hudson. And really at this point, are we really that far from "Beam Me Up, Scotty" type of shit.