By: Lieba Nesis

The Hamptons continues its dominant summer with the most packed weekend being that of July 28-30th.  As hotel prices soared to $3,000 a night, and Jitneys filled 24-7 the sweltering weekend was sizzling in more ways than one.  After a challenging 25 hour Tisha B’Av fast Friday provided some much needed relief with Maria and Ken Fishel hosting a French Heritage soirée at their palatial Bridgehampton estate.  With cocktail tickets at $300 and dinner for $1,000 over 140 guests gathered for a delightful evening that featured decor by the renowned Preston Bailey.  Saturday afternoon was equally busy for the Fishels who hosted $300 tickets to Bridgehampton polo for over 900 guests.

A pre-cocktail party from 3-4 PM at the adjacent Fishel home was all about socialites, picture taking, hats and floral dresses.  Jill Zarin’s annual Saturday Southampton luncheon which advertised a mystery location turned out to be the mundane Halsey House. A host of vendors, reality stars such as Julia Haart, and a plethora of fans to combat the scorching heat was on deck for this much publicized shindig.

Summer in the Hamptons is as glamorous as it seems.  Despite the surging popularity of  Long Beach and Atlantic Beach neither contain the five different hamlets of the Hamptons each of which have their own identity and a host of restaurants, party halls and beaches for the hundreds of resident billionaires. Other Long Island regions lack the space and infrastructure to accommodate the nearly 100,000 residents of the Hamptons.

In the second quarter of 2023 Hampton bidding wars for prized luxury homes hit a record high with 31 percent of deals occurring after multiple offers despite a general slump in Long Island home sales. According to Curbed magazine Hamptonites are seeking gigantic homes with up-to-the-minute amenities including huge kitchens, pantries and closets; historical modernist structures with smaller and more thought out layouts are being demolished quicker than Paris Hilton’s singing career.  Philip Johnson’s Farney House in Sagaponack, Norman Jaffe’s Lloyds House in East Hampton along with Gordon Chadwick’s Spaeth House have all been KO’ed in favor of the “bigger is better’ motif of Hampton billionaires. For the wives of the moguls there are a host of new shops in East Hampton to purchase their wares including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Isabel Marant, Loewe, and Prada-East Hampton is the new Rodeo Drive.

The most popular book in the South Fork is Emma Cline’s “The Guest” which screams “Hamptons elite” while chronicling the life of a young woman named Alex who hops from party to party after being kicked out by her bland 50-year-old boyfriend. For those who prefer nightlife to reading there was plenty to do this past Saturday night with four competing events including the Watermill Center Benefit, The Mommy’s Heart dinner, the South Fork Natural History Museum Gala hosted by Liev Schreiber and the God’s Love We Deliver Gala at the East Hampton home of Neil Patrick Harris.

The Watermill Benefit used to be a must on every important artists calendar with celebrities such as Robert Downey Jr., Calvin Klein, Rufus Wainwright and Sharon Stone attending-those days are over.  Aside from some creepy artistic installations and a deconstructed police vehicle that was undoubtedly meant to cast aspersions on our men in blue-this event has lost its luster. Mommy’s Heart hosted by Julianne Michelle was a home-run with guests such as Carolyn Maloney, Rita Cosby and Raed Saade -from Netflix’s “My Unorthodox Life.” Raed is even more handsome and dynamic than he is portrayed on the show and has a promising career in showbiz awaiting.

Maloney received an award for her advocacy on women’s issues presented by the beautiful Julianne Michelle who has worked tirelessly to aid female victims of domestic abuse. If you were planning on catching drinks or dinner at former hotspot Bilboquet Sag Harbor good luck with that as the bar is now closed at 8:30PM-a travesty for inveterate Hamptonites.  The big question is where the glitterati will amass now that this irreplaceable watering hole in the center of town has closed its doors.

As the Hamptons becomes more draconian with its laws limiting crowds and nightlife the lucky few with club licenses including Bounce in Montauk, Common Ground in East Hampton and Ultra in South will continue to thrive.  Speaking to the owner of Common Ground, Frank Cilione, he remarked this was his busiest and most lucrative summer since 2012 with tables on Friday and Saturday booked for the entirety of the summer with prices beginning at $4,000 and going to $10,000-as well as a recent $33,000 champagne bill.

The high return of nightclubs with nearly a 90 percent profit margin make them irresistible to big operators; however retaining the correct permits are a nearly impossible feat in the Hamptons.  Florida’s Nikki Beach is seeking to set up shop in the desirable Hamptons if viability exists-a quandary many large scale entertainment venues are facing.

The Hamptons modus operandi is limiting the influx of clubs and parties by making it nearly impossible to obtain the correct permits for either.  Moreover, transportation is severely limited with one train per day during the week accompanied by a host of sold-out Jitney’s. The Hamptons seeks to keep people out so their one percenters can revel in a summer of solitude.  Poor billionaire Robert Kraft can’t even get a $2 million elevator approved in his $43 million Southampton home.

My Sunday was indicative of the difficulty of transporting oneself throughout the Hamptons.  A boat ride to Sunset Beach Hotel-one of the remaining Hamptons party venues-where drinks, dinner, and DJ’s awaited along with a nighttime campfire as a lighter than usual crowd enjoyed the perfect 75 degree weather started out perfectly.  However, getting home was no easy feat as Ubers to the $2 ferry were unavailable as well as a WIFI blackout prohibiting me from calling an Uber on the other side.

Until I made an emergency call to a Sag Harbor resident my ability to get home was iffy as Sag Harbor contains little to no Internet access making it impossible to get around. One thing Sag Harbor does have is a lively restaurant scene including the new French bistro Vin Sur Vingt where dancing abounded Saturday night.  The next week will contain the Friday night East Hampton Guild Hall gala as well as a Saturday Ferrari event and a sold-out Saturday night St. Jude Hope in the Hamptons Gala on Meadow Lane in Southampton. While many claims have been made of the Hamptons losing steam the abundance of new retail shops and restaurants proves the opposite-the Hamptons is on an upwards trajectory as its moneyed inhabitants clamor for more of everything. And let’s not forget its rich cultural heritage with 20th century Abstract Expressionists Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock choosing this idyllic spot to explore their artistry.