Hamptons regulars were left stunned and furious after a baby was spotted being passed around after midnight during a champagne-fueled night out at one of the area’s most exclusive clubs.
One local dining with friends at Shelter Island’s notorious Sunset Beach Hotel on Sunday night told Daily Mail he was shocked to see the 14-month old girl seated in the VIP area around midnight, surrounded by oblivious adults deep into the evening’s Memorial weekend festivities.
‘The baby looked stunned,’ one witness said.
‘The music was blaring, there were flashing lights, and the child was exposed to piercing whistles from the staff and thundering bass from the subwoofers.’
One first-time visitor to Sunset Beach called the entire affair ‘surreal.’
‘There was something almost operatic in how vulgar it all was – the baby, the bottle service, the preening adults who seemed to think this was perfectly normal,’ the witness told the Daily Mail.
‘The whole scene reeked of a kind of tastelessness that money tends to amplify in places like this.
‘I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised… but I was.’
Shelter Island police are called to Sunset Beach after midnight on Sunday night
Another witness overheard a waitress suggest some water for the baby, bringing it over in a plastic cup, while others saw the child being passed from one guest to another as the party ‘raged’.
‘It was horrible seeing that baby put through that,’ an observer said.
Shelter island Police Chief James Read confirmed to the Daily Mail that his department responded shortly after midnight to an anonymous call about a baby in the bar area of the nightspot.
‘The caller claimed an infant was being “passed around” in the bottle service section with no parents in sight,’ Read said.
Officers quickly found both parents and noted the baby was safe and showing no signs of distress. The police report noted that ‘no signs of maltreatment’ were observed.
Police also said neither parent showed signs of significant intoxication.
‘While no enforcement action was warranted, this incident serves as an important reminder, as the summer season begins, for all guests and residents to use sound judgment – particularly when young children are present in adult social settings,’ the chief added.
The baby’s mother, who has not been named, was given a drug and alcohol sobriety test – which came back negative – and was told to leave the venue with the child, a witness said.
The Sunset Beach Hotel is a secluded enclave that’s long been infamous for its wild party scene.
Rosé and Champagne is drunk by the gallon and look-at-me photographs are de rigueur with a crowd drawn from New York’s wealthy finance, fashion and celebrity worlds.
The Sunset Beach Hotel is owned by Andres Balazs, who also owns The Chateau Marmont in L.A. and The Chiltern Firehouse in London
A woman, believed to be the child’s mother, is seen holding the baby before midnight
The whistle-blowing waitress is pictured as the baby looks ‘stunned’ at Shelter Island’s Sunset Beach
One waitress – seen in photos blowing a signature bottle-service whistle near the child – appeared visibly uncomfortable when police arrived.
The manager was observed fielding multiple complaints from guests, some of whom were clearly ‘not amused by the baby on the scene,’ according to a bystander.
The Sunset Beach Hotel and Restaurant is owned by renowned hotelier André Balazs, whose global portfolio includes the star-studded Château Marmont in Hollywood and the Chiltern Firehouse in London.
In the late 1990s, Balazs purchased the sleepy Shelter Island motel and transformed it into a Euro-chic summer haven inspired by Saint-Tropez and frequented by models, moguls, and the children of the Big Apple’s wealthy elite.
‘The place is notorious for wild behavior, late-night parties, and DJ-fueled chaos that runs into the early hours,’ said one longtime Shelter Island resident.
‘It sells itself as refined bohemian luxury – but half the time, it’s just a sandbox for people with too much money and not enough self-awareness.’
The Sunset Beach Hotel (pictured) offers sweeping views of the Peconic Bay
Over the years, Sunset Beach has hosted an endless stream of celebrities and influencers, including Chloë Sevigny, Gigi Hadid, and the Obama daughters.
But on Memorial Day weekend, many locals said the scene inside the nightclub with the baby was the moment it veered from glamorous to grotesque.
As one 23-year-old partygoer who spoke to Daily Mail put it: ‘It honestly felt like a parody of rich people behavior – a baby in the middle of a nightclub, everyone pretending it was normal.
‘There’s this particular brand of East End tackiness that tries to pass as chic, but really it’s just money with no taste and no boundaries. No one blinked. That was the strangest part.’