When The Crowds Come Marching In

This week, the NYT confirmed one of Hamptons residents’ suspected fears: their exclusive coast is overcrowded. According to the piece, hoards of sand-seekers are trekking to the Hamptons and settling in at private summer spots like Amagansett's Indian Wells Beach (pictured above).  We even got a shout-out! Here's the piece that the Times mentioned:

The situation at Indian Wells — in the East Hampton hamlet of Amagansett — was a couple of years in the making. A group of dozens of young merrymakers started having parties there toward the end of the 2011 season.

Through word of mouth and then a post about the scene there on the plugged-in party Web site, Guest of a Guest, the crowd last summer grew into hundreds of people hauling pony kegs and cases of beer across the beach.

The Times also offered up some transportation stats for those skeptical of the changes:

Hampton Jitney reports that its ridership has grown around 5 percent annually since 2008.

LIRR reports that from 2011-2012 alone, its Hamptons-bound summer ridership grew to 196,000 rides - a more than 30 percent increase.

As the LIRR's vice president for customer service Joe Calderone offered up:

“People want to get out there and they want to get out there in a hurry, and unless they have a helicopter, the railroad’s the best bet."

But this weekend, the express line's two reserved cars had a 500-request backlog.  Let's hope you have a helicopter.

See also: [Hamptons Free Ride Launches A New Southampton Route This Summer] [Your Guide To Day Drinking In The Hamptons] [So What's Really Going Down At Indian Wells Beach]