What happens when one of New York City’s best-known private clubs sets its sight on the Hamptons? Last year, the New York Times‘ Eliza Shapiro wrote that Zero Bond is “Mayor Eric Adams’s preferred spot and the site of his 2021 election night victory party,” and a 2021 Fortune headline declared that the space “makes coworking feel luxurious.”
Soho House’s expansion plans have shown that exclusive members-only clubs have a way of multiplying, and Zero Bond is no different. And what better way to bolster an exclusive membership than to set up shop where many of those members might spend their downtime — in other words, the Hamptons? And that’s where things have gotten contentious.
As Stephanie Krikorian reports for Curbed, Zero Bond plans to rent out the Hedges Inn in East Hampton. Some of the town’s residents — as well as its mayor, Jerry Larsen — don’t love the idea. And the idea of a bustling social establishment in the midst of a historic district does sound like something that’s going to rub some residents the wrong way.
Reporting on the issue for Air Mail, Carrie Monahan cited Larsen’s proposed solution to the arrival of Zero House: restricting food and beverage service in the town’s historic district after 10:00 p.m. Larsen clarified his position in comments made to Air Mail. “Do I support business? I certainly do,” he said. “But not to the detriment of the residents.”
The Hotels at the Forefront of the Members-Only Club Revival
Exclusivity is in, thanks to the hospitality industryAs both Monahan and Krikorian note in their reporting, this conflict illustrates an issue in the Hamptons that predates Zero Bonds’s interest in setting up shop there. It’s not that the residents are concerned about an influx of celebrities; instead, noise complaints are more at issue here. (Monahan’s article recounts an anecdote about one resident calling the police about a loud noise that turned out to be the ocean.) Zero Bond may be a new player in the Hamptons, but the nature of the conflict is very familiar.
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