The Hamptons

Tuesday

Clare McHugh

A farewell to summer

On the roads in Amagansett, in the shops, at the train station, the summer crowds have vanished, and those of us who spend time here “off-season” sigh with relief. Until we drive down the most exclusive street in town, Further Lane. Then we – some of us at least – seethe over the loss of something we loved. Last winter, a person or persons operating under the moniker Further Lane Barn LLC, bought two contiguous lots totaling seven acres, stretching from Further Lane to the magnificent ocean dunes that front the wide, sandy beach that is the chief attraction of the gorgeous east end of Long Island. The price for land, house, and a couple of outbuildings? A cool $70 million. So far, so 21st century.

summer

Thursday

David Sypher Jr.

Obama has traded credibility for Netflix contracts

Barack Obama has reemerged, stepping back into the national conversation with all the gravitas of a tenured Ivy League professor who just remembered the country exists beyond Martha’s Vineyard. In a conversation with historian Heather Cox Richardson, the former president offered a dire warning: America is “dangerously close” to slipping into autocracy. He didn’t mention Trump by name – but he didn’t have to. The implication was clear, and so was the posture: the wise elder statesman cautioning the republic from the comfort of his $12 million estate. But here’s the problem: Obama’s sermon rings hollow. Not because his warning about eroding democratic norms lacks merit, but because the messenger has long since traded credibility for cultural applause and Netflix contracts.

Obama

Thursday

Aidan McLaughlin

Inside the unlikely success of Patrick Bet-David

A right turn off Montauk Highway onto a leafy street in the Hamptons town of Water Mill brings you to a wooden gate, behind which sits a 12,000-square foot modernist estate that rents, with staff, for $75,000 a week. At the moment it’s the vacation home of Patrick Bet-David, an unlikely character to find in this area of New York. Over the last two years, Bet-David has improbably emerged as one of the most prominent voices in right-wing media. His prodigious influence is belied by the fact that around here, he’s more undercover heretic than acclaimed celebrity.

Bet-David

Wednesday

Ben Sixsmith

Rich people are struggling during COVID, too

The New York Times reports on the struggles faced by families who, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been forced to convert their second homes into their primary homes. The Gray Lady observes: ‘These homeowners share many of the same difficulties as anyone dealing with the coronavirus lockdown — working in communal spaces where their children are now present 24/7, discovering items in their home that need updating, and then renovating a home while they are living in it. In addition, these homeowners must adjust to living in relatively unfamiliar towns, often far from friends, family, or creature comforts like a favorite bagel shop or longtime barber.’ Don't I know it. I consider myself a solidly middle-class American, making about $500,000 a year.

rich