Is September 'Tightwad' Month in the Hamptons?

(I ,T.J Clemente, am not an employee of Patch.com nor do my views represent Patch.com in any capacity.)

Exit the Summer season: Rich people and the weekend tourists with those crisp $100 bills and you would think the East End locals would have the Hamptons to themselves to play. Not so fast!

I was reading a Facebook post of a well respected professional Montauk photographer and came across a post that basically used the phrase, "tightwads," explaining who was now invading the East End.

What is a tightwad?

In another reference, the tightwads are the up-island owners of second homes in the Hamptons who have rented out the houses all season long and now take possession of them on "Tumbleweed Tuesday," the local euphemism for the day after Labor Day.

The dicey weather of this year's Labor Day weekend had a profound effect on the usual long traffic lines of loaded cars, usually draped with numerous bicycles, heading west on Route 27 because this year many left early. It was a steady 3 day exodus this year. Coming east on 27 were the "Tightwads!"

So why are they called "tightwads?"

It seems the second home owners who come back after Labor Day to assess how much of the required deposits they will demand for renting their homes are tight with their money. Many times homes have been abused and real damage has occurred. Other times the second home owners just decide to keep most of the deposits, and the honest ones return the deposits. Then reportedly they head into town to shop, dine, bank or just walk around. The word is they are very tight with their tips, and only look for sales, or demand deep discounts.

Note: Not all second home owners fall into this category, in fact many contribute to the towns in many wonderful ways; this is not about them.

So I walked around town on Tuesday evening and asked around; it seems that the word is, size of tips at bars and restaurants go from generous to below 15% the first few weeks after Labor Day. I want to make clear: This is not about the locals who, quite frankly, have their own ways of being charged and paying and not for me to report on, but on the East End they take care of their own.

This is about the second home owners who come out after Labor Day with an arrogance that they own the town, they are the Hamptons. For the last 17 years I have sailed Gardiner's Bay almost daily, 9 as a resident and 8 as a guest. I try to be respectful and well behaved. Quite frankly I love the East End, and treasure the time I lived here full time. The folks on the East End treated me very well. It was the second home owners who perhaps weren't as nice. Just reporting the facts with that last line. So I wasn't totally shocked when I chuckled reading, "Okay, brace yourself get ready for the East End invasion of the tightwads."

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