By: Dean Wiener
For anyone who was spoiled by how quiet the Hamptons has been the past few years, the party is officially over…or, just starting as the case may be. Companies switching their employees over to remote working means that no one has to rush on Sundays to catch the Jitney back to the city to get to the office on Mondays.
“Thursday is the new Friday,’’ Renee Towell, 48, a TV producer, told The New York Post, who was out east with her friend Lisa Bretweiser, 58, on a recent Thursday since neither had to go into the office on Friday. They checked in to the Capri Hotel, went to Argento for dinner and then found a bar with live music. “It was packed and we were dancing the entire time,’’ Towell said.
“COVID made weekends irrelevant,’’ said Sylvia Mueller, who owns East Hampton’s tony Mill House Inn. “People who weren’t tied to a schedule realized that weekdays were less expensive. It’s a bit of a bargain and easier for us to get them reservations at popular restaurants.”
At the Golden Pear cafes, owner Keith Davis reports a 30% increase in Monday business, and popular sushi spot Kissaki, which was previously closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, has decided to open seven nights a week. Over at Mediterranean restaurant Calissa in Water Mill, June Thursdays used to be slow, but now live music has been introduced to entertain the growing crowd mingling and gyrating on the vast lawn, NY Post explained.
The Post report: real estate agents used to move between the city and the Hamptons are spending more and more time on Long Island as their clients are remaining east. The influx of residents has increased traffic at local businesses which are struggling to keep up and hire people to handle the influx.
Residential real estate prices in the Hamptons rank among the highest in the U.S. and, as of 2015, the real estate market was very strong with prices rising for both home buyers and sellers, as well as for rentals. Historically, real estate south of Route 27 (“south of the highway”), the main transportation artery in the Hamptons, was more highly valued. Land south of Route 27 is closer to the ocean, and the road served as a marker for social standing and land valuation.
The most expensive neighborhoods lie south of the highway, and most of all in the so-called Estate Areas of Southampton Village, Water Mill, Bridgehampton, Sagaponack and East Hampton Village. Notable streets include Ox Pasture Road, Halsey Neck Lane, Coopers Neck Lane and First Neck Lane in Southampton Village and Lee Avenue and West End Road in East Hampton Village. Oceanfront property commands a high premium over other real estate. The oceanfront streets in Southampton Village (Gin Lane and Meadow Lane) and East Hampton Village (Lily Pond Lane, Further Lane and West End Road) rank among the most expensive roads in the country. Meadow Lane in Southampton Village is sometimes referred to as “Billionaire’s Lane”, News Day explains.
