The Anti-Hamptons Field Guide
What life is actually like on a beach on Long Island, nary a Row flip flop to be found.
When did the Hamptons become what they are now? It happened slowly, and then suddenly all at once— New York society seems to have been divided between those who will spend $150 on the chicken fingers at Surf Lodge, and those who mock them.
I moved to New York City about twelve years ago, and at the time, “The Hamptons” was just a place where a few episodes of Gossip Girl once took place.
I’ve lived and worked and been pals with many folks from the tri-state area in those 12 or so years, and I can’t say I ever have encountered someone who summers— or even takes a regular summer trip to— The Hamptons… besides an old boss who used to have a summer cottage out in Montauk. A decade later, I wonder often what’s become of that place, passed down through generations of her husband’s family, only for Montauk to turn into some sort of Vegas-ian spectacle for TikTokers and their hangers on.
Everyone wants to profit off of the ballooning Hamptons cultural…