July 4th weekend in the Hamptons was more thrilling than ever as thousands descended on this enclave for the super wealthy. Sagaponack, which is located in Southampton, was recently named the richest zip code in America with a cost of living of $853,000 a year and a median sale price for a home of $5.5 million. While many weekend revelers were not homeown ers, they arrived in the Hamptons with money to spend and steam to blow off. The weekend started for many on Wednesday as crowds inhabited Jitneys, trains and helicopters to experience the busiest holiday of the year. Montauk bars and clubs were already filled to capacity on Wednesday as hordes of twenty somethings got an early start on the holiday partying. The 9:30 AM train on Thursday July 4th was filled to capacity with police forcing passengers off. Many had to take a later train which still allowed them to arrive on time for the two premier parties of the week: David Rosenberg’s Bridgehampton extravaganza; and
Warby Parker’s event in Amagansett.
The Rosenberg party was a smash hit with more than 800 revelers attending this annual happening. Rosenberg had two ice cream trucks providing sweet treats, twenty minutes of fireworks and DJ’s that had the crowd dancing until 4 AM. Superstar hosts Richie Akiva and Maxwell Osborne brought in hundreds of their beautiful friends with 1 Oak manager Sheri manning the doors. Sheri, a beautiful brunette with long curly hair, is well known in the New York club circles for spotting the best and brightest and allowing them entry into Akiva establishments. Tonight, she held court as guests streamed in desperate to grab her attention. Who is David Rosenberg, was the question on everyone’s mind, and how does he afford to hold these annual opulent parties in St. Barths and the Hamptons where celebrities and supermodels fraternize with bourgeoise? The low key Rosenberg, grew up in Illinois and attended Skokie yeshiva and Ohio State before dropping out to start his tech company. Furthermore, he is a record producer who has collaborated with Jay Z and Russell Simmons and runs a massive debt collection company called Unifund. Rosenberg, is most proud of his commitment to Chabad as he attends services and donates generously to their programs having been raised in a fervently Zionistic home.
While there weren’t many Chabadniks in attendance at Rosenberg’s party Rabbi Marc Schneier and his wife Simi made a brief appearance. There were also a significant number of supermodel progeny with Presley Gerber, son of Cindy Crawford, and Peter Brant Jr., son of Stephanie Seymour, enjoying the evening as they fraternized with friends. Gerber donned a fisherman’s hat and massive tattoos while the 25-year-old Peter Brant Jr., who held a barbeque in his Sagaponack estate earlier in the day, looked impossibly elegant in a pantsuit combination as he continues his reign as one of the best dressed men on the planet. Last weekend, Brant hosted Tiffany Trump at his mansion and in prior years Prince Harry has played polo at his Greenwich estate. Some other billionaire kids in attendance included John and Andrea Catsimatidis, with Andrea recently featured in the pages of the New York Post as one of the all-time sexiest GOP leaders-giving knockout Kimberly Guilfoyle a run for her money.
“Housewives” Ramona Singer and Kelly Dodd were also hanging out by the Rosenberg pool, as Singer showed off her heavily toned figure while Kelly seemed subdued-perhaps due to her recent breakup with boyfriend Brian Reagan. Ramona and Kelly also attended the Warby Parker party which contained hundreds of revelers dressed in the Studio 54 theme; at approximately 2 AM guests were shuttled to a nearby pizza joint where DJ Ollie spun tunes for an excited crowd.
Some other luminaries in town included Chuck Schumer who was seen at Tutto il Giorno in Southampton on Thursday where he was largely ignored by unimpressed diners. Schumer was rumored to be there for Lally Weymouth’s annual shindig in Southampton. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were also in the Hamptons presumably to once again attend Weymouth’s star-studded party and were reportedly residing at Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s $15 million Southampton estate. While there were dozens of Secret Service staying in Southampton hotels over the weekend they kept an extremely low profile with few aware of their significant presence.
Lest you mistakenly conclude that private parties were the only way to go over the holiday, Montauk’s Surf Lodge and Southampton Social Club were the hotspots of the weekend with dozens of regulars and well knowns turned away from the overpacked Surf Lodge and Southampton Social charging a $60 cover charge as they hosted thousands of enthusiastic New Yorkers. In fact, nearly everyone I encountered in the Hamptons was from New York making it unnecessary to waste words with the query “where are you from”?
Friday night things were a bit slower as Hamptonites were trying to recuperate from the past two nights of heavy drinking. However, Saturday was full force with a 3 PM Ivan Wilzig barbeque starting off the busy day. Many of Wilzig’s attendees headed to Sag Harbor’s 9 PM fireworks viewed by hundreds on the yacht of real estate entrepreneur Neil Simon who generously opened up his boat with the caveat “no food allowed.” What were attendees to do but head to nearby restaurant Bilboquet where forty of my beautiful socialite friends were celebrating Jennifer Myles birthday including Maria Fishel, Jacqueline Murphy, Andrea Warshaw Wernick, Lauren Roberts, Jennifer and Ruth Miller and dozens of others. These energetic ladies turned the eatery into a makeshift disco as they danced excitedly to the DJ’s tunes. The Fishels were exhausted from hosting polo on their Bridgehampton estate earlier in the day and planning the Waxman Cancer event which will take place at their house next weekend. As the group exited Bilboquet, I headed to frozen yogurt mecca BuddhaBerry in Sag Harbor which is both nutritious and delicious and was unfortunately closed at the early hour of 11:30 PM. All wasn’t wasted as I bumped into comedian extraordinaire Elon Gold who has appeared on HBO and Netflix and graciously agreed to host a Chabad fundraiser in the Hamptons this summer.
Sag Harbor has undeniably maintained preeminence over the Hamptons social circuit for the past couple of seasons. However, its’ lack of internet reception makes it nearly impossible to get an uber. The car services were booked for 1.5 hours and I found myself waiting an hour for an uber that charged over $100 to drive to the relatively close town of Southampton. At the conclusion of the long evening, I set my alarm early for Sunday in order to peruse the streets of Southampton, East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Montauk, Bridgehampton and Shelter Island with the winner of the day being Shelter Island’s “Sunset Beach”. The ferry which costs $1 per person and $20 roundtrip for a car runs every 5 minutes and arrives on the island approximately 10 minutes later. The island is a self contained universe with its own restaurants, hotels and businesses that contain a solitude absent from other Hamptons. Sunset Beach was a different story as this rocking spot hosted hundreds who dined at the restaurant and enjoyed the magnificent beach views. Getting an uber on the island is similarly difficult, but I was able to hitch a ride to the bus with the magnificent Libbie Mugrabi-whose nasty divorce hasn’t sullied her joyful spirit. Heading back to New York on the 10:30 PM $38 sold-out Jitney proved better than expected as I arrived in New York City two hours later ready to unwind after an exhilarating weekend.
