Opinion: East Hampton Where The 1% And The Locals Co-Exist

In the most Dickens' way it is a "Tale of Two Cities," one "South of the Highway" and then, "the locals." For years on the East End the two factions existed warmly because the gap between them was never as huge as it has become in the last 10 years as we enter the "era of billionaires."

Twenty years ago, the mansions south of the highway were owned by old families who loved and respected their summer homes. The 500 families of Maidstone and Devon Yacht Club had an enormous attachment to the "place where they summered as children," and a respect for the folks who lived there. When over the years I interviewed the local legends for my, "50 Traditions of the Hamptons," almost all spoke of the importance of "summer folks," to the community and their individual business models.

The jet plane, private helicopter, and armed mini security army are the realities of the new 1% (billionaire class.) They have really moved into East Hampton in force since 2005-6-7. Everything has changed. In the last decade I reported for local publications many deals and sales. I watched as $2-$3-$15 million homes became $106M sales.

Suddenly historical homes were being purchased for multiple millions to be totally redone or even torn down. Old families were selling to anonymous shell corporations and holding companies. Many times more multiple millions were spent to upgrade the home, usually more then the homes were purchased for. As a teenage boy perhaps 50 years ago, I remember the "South of the Highway," homes as being stately but in a warm and friendly way. Now days they are fortresses with security worthy of Columbian drug lords.

Meanwhile, most locals have fared well, too. In the last 20 years their family homes and land have gone up in values usually around the million dollar range. Even the smallest homes in the Springs are priced at $600,000. However the earning power of the locals have remained in the same zones as it was 20 years ago and in some instances for whatever reasons have receded. The quality of life for the East Hampton local is a metric between struggle and great pleasure in enjoying an abundance of high quality experiences of beauty, good food, and a most pleasant natural environment.

There is a reason the British Army took an extra three to four years to leave East Hampton after the American Revolution. I remember reading of one officer who said, "The weather most of the year is very agreeable." I agree. As a guest resident existing in East Hampton after a ruining divorce I was healed by the grace and humanity of the local residents. They have a code of honor truly not seen in many communities. Unfortunately the new billionaires have their own code, too.

Thus in the summer there is a conflict of the 1%ers/summer rental folks and the locals openly wishing the other group was not existing in East Hampton during the summer season. In the last decade I have seen a bizarre situation of unseemly businessmen and women buying up the Hamptons and spreading the very ruthless crudeness that they allegedly used in some actual cases to cheat and steal enormous amounts of money. Ways like pensions funds being raided and stolen, stock prices manipulated, and so forth. True there are still some honest, lucky, hardworking American success story cases, but I believe nowhere near where it was decades ago. The very rich come into town and feel entitled to a certain treatment, as if they were 17th century British royalty. They drive and travel around with security details making one wonder what did they do to need multiple men with weapons to guard them?

In the last national presidential election cycle the disparity between the 1% and the rest of the country was a "huge" issue. I believe I am not going out on a limb when I say in a small community like East Hampton there are more "billionaires" running about in the summer season then, say, in Peoria, IL. Many are totally invisible arriving in their jets, and hiding behind the walls of their fortified oceanfront fortresses. Others are attention seekers and very visible.

It is true it is not their vehicles alone that are clogging up the town roads all summer long. However for them it always is "the best of times." Years ago Nelson Rockefeller was flying commercially in the first class section of a plane. He had just won re-election to be governor of New York and the campaign manager of his defeated opponent (Justice Arthur Goldberg) passed the seated Rockefeller on his way to coach. He stopped and said to Rockefeller, "You see, you won the election and fly first class and we lost and I fly coach." Nelson Rockefeller reportedly responded, "No, win or lose I always fly first class."

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