When summer comes around, the Hamptons are where you’ll find some of the East Coast’s most pristine beaches — spots beloved by surfers, locals and celebrities alike. That’s the good news; where things get more challenging, though, is actually getting to some of these beaches. A detailed look at the beaches published last year in East End Taste noted that, for one especially in-demand locale, “[p]arking can be tricky.”
That might be an understatement. In a new article for Curbed, Stephanie Krikorian chronicles the logistical headaches involved with getting a beach parking pass from the Village of East Hampton. Krikorian makes it clear that the process can be complicated: this year, 1,500 of the 3,100 total parking passes had to be applied for in person.
Why would so many people sacrifice a day for this process? As Krikorian explains, “the village parking permit is a passport into some of the most exclusive summer circles.”
The Curbed article features a cross-section of people waiting to buy passes, including some who’d driven east from New York City or New Jersey, and one man who was there at the behest of “a well-known billionaire” and repeated the process six times, each one for a different car.
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From celebrity disputes to misplaced traffic conesWriting in the New York Times last year, Anna Kodé pondered whether the Hamptons were still hip. That question may linger this summer, but it doesn’t seem to have put a dent in beach parking applications: Curbed’s article notes that the 1,500 passes sold out within the day.
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