As New York City boils under the 100-degree heat this week, the wealthy will be finding their way out east to the summer oasis of the Hamptons, but only some of them can really afford it.
It’s the land of multimillion dollar homes and private chefs and nannies where millionaires and billionaires don ugly flip flops, designer purses and carry a sweater around their shoulders in case the country club gets too cold.
It’s loved by celebrities and reeks of wealth, family heritage, and splendor where those with more money than sense don’t blink at paying a whopping $16 for 12 eggs.
But there’s more to the Long Island bolt hole than just It Girls dripping in designer clothing and jewels, the nepo babies escaping their West Village homes for Westhampton, and affluent scions that spend all winter dreaming of the polo clubs.
There’s the wannabes. And let’s just say, it’s hard to keep up with generational wealth when you don’t have it!
‘There’s a desperation in the air, especially in August,’ one unidentified woman told The Cut.
‘There’s an insecurity that you need to be operating on a certain level or else you’re not good enough if you don’t have the Goyard tote.’
A number of anonymous Hamptonites have spoken to The Cut and shared their first world ‘struggles’ of what summer in the elite enclave is really like for them as they try to keep up with the billionaires next door.
As New York City boils under the 100-degree heat this week, the wealthy and the wannabes will be finding their way to their summer oasis, the Hamptons, but only some of them can really afford it. Pictured: Main Street in Southampton
From the multimillion homes, the designer purses, and the private chefs, to even dishing out a whopping $16 for 12 eggs, the Hamptons is the scene of luxury where ‘summer’ becomes a verb and flaunting wealth is your invitation to high society
Extortionate grocery bills and not-so-designer purses
An unidentified woman told how she was tired of the upkeep it takes to be someone in the Hamptons, and despite her irritation by it, she ultimately plays into it with fake designer purses and dishing out an exuberant amount for a carton of eggs.
‘Can I afford a $7,000 purse? No. Do I still want the $7,000 purse? Yes,’ she told The Cut.
‘And when I’m there, I’m checking out everyone’s purses. And I’m wondering: “Does everyone here have the real thing?” Are we just surrounded by $200,000 worth of purses? Or is everyone just pretending? I’m pretending.’
Groceries are already up in the US, and she moans that it’s hard to feed her kids with the Hamptons’ prices. She’s seen $16 for a single carton of eggs and $8 for a bundle of asparagus.
She said that despite being able to fake some of the wealth her neighbors seem to have, she can’t fake everything including her wheels.
‘My Honda Odyssey is the only one that’s not a Maserati,’ she sniped about her neighbors motors.
The island itself reeks of wealth, family heritage, and splendor. But there’s more to the island than just It Girls dripping in designer. There’s the wannabes. And let’s just say, it’s hard to keep up with generational wealth when you don’t have it!
Tax debts and $2,000 tips
One man’s child revealed how her father will go to great lengths to keep up the image that he has Hamptons ‘summer money’, even if that means tax evasions… and several years of it.
The unidentified father will easily drop $200,000 on a rental house to be near his friends in the summer, despite having large amounts of debts to pay off back home.
And he doesn’t care if it’s not near the water or as ritzy as his friends.
‘Honestly, I am not trying to sound bratty or anything, but these houses are just not very nice,’ his child, who manages the finances for the family business, told The Cut.
And to keep up the image that he still had the money he had before his divorce, he’ll go to his favorite restaurant on the island, order one of everything on the menu, and leave an eyewatering $2,000 tip on the bill.
While great for the waitress, it’s not so great for the family finances.
‘Still, he will scrape together every cent he can to try to get that Hamptons house. He wants to be out there with his friends. He wants to go to Dockers. And it’s definitely a strain,’ the adult child said.
‘It would get us to the point where we were struggling to make payroll for our 50-person company because he wanted that Hamptons house.
‘There’s been a lot of personal struggle on his end and neglecting things that are much more necessary in hopes of having one more year of doing this. And you’d never know it.’
‘There’s a desperation in the air, especially in August,’ one unidentified woman said. Pictured: A file photo of patrons dining at Clam Bar on the Napeague Stretch in Amagansett
Summer in the Hamptons sees New York City dwellers escape there for the weekend
Flashy realtors who can’t afford their own home
Even those who sell to the rich can’t escape the draw of a nice, big home in the good part of town, and some will do anything to get it, even if that means living paycheck to paycheck.
‘I’ve been in the Hamptons for five years now, and you see this a lot with junior agents overspending on their cars, clothes, watches,’ an unidentified realtor told The Cut.
‘Next thing you know, they’re living check to check, can’t make the mortgage payments, losing their home.’
They even saw a female real estate agent lose her South Forks home rather than rent it out because she couldn’t bear letting ‘any of her peers find out she needed the money’.
The broker said he knows plenty of others who have practically bankrupted themselves just to keep up with the ultra-rich.
Others are walking around the island with fake designer bags to keep up with the looks and embarrassed by their affordable rides. ‘Not to mention my Honda Odyssey is the only one that’s not a Maserati,’ one mom said
Even realtors are living beyond their means to keep up with the looks of the islanders
Some rich people are paying $20,000 for dock slips for the good ones. ‘The dockmasters are the gatekeepers – and for the ones who take advantage, it’s no pay, no play,’ one crew member said
Bribes for the hottest spots on the dock
Another thing all coastal rich people love are yachts and those in the Hamptons aren’t any better.
For those lucky enough to afford them don’t even get to enjoy the luxury to the full extent as they’re too busy scouting out their neighbor’s boat – is their boat bigger than our boat?
Another thing they’re preoccupied with? Getting an in at the right dock.
‘The dockmasters are the gatekeepers – and for the ones who take advantage, it’s no pay, no play,’ one crew member told The Cut.
The rich and famous can fork up to $20,000 for a precious slip and the only way to get it is to bribe the dockmaster.