The most dashing thing I’d ever read about Raymond Loewy is that he used to commute, from his manse in Long Island to Manhattan, via speedboat. “…Often with a stiff cocktail in one hand,” if memory serves.
Tom Lutz isn’t Raymond Loewy, but the Google engineer also commutes to Manhattan by rather unusual means. Lutz lives in Leonia, New Jersey, and works at Google’s Manhattan offices in Chelsea. To connect the two dots, Lutz leaves his driveway in Leonia on a Brompton bicycle–towing a folding boat that he built with his son.
Watch the procedure:
I was curious about the boat and looked it up. It’s called the Fliptail Collapsible Dinghy, and building one is not for the faint of heart; the plans, which can be purchased here, contain some 100 pages.
http://www.core77.com/posts/77843/This-Engineer-Commutes-From-NJ-to-Manhattan-by-Self-Built-Self-Powered-Folding-Boat-and-Folding-Bicycle