When things heat up in the Empire State, many of our nation’s rulers join the Summer Colony, what Hamptonites call the influx of plutocrats and assorted helpers who seasonally fill the island’s beach chalets. Escaping nearby Manhattan’s heat and noise for a few months each year is one of the 1 percent’s most cherished membership perks, but it may be going the way of groundskeeping graveyard shifts at The Creeks.* A growing class of Hamptonian super-rich now insist on commuting to their tranquil getaways by helicopter, thereby disrupting the peace of anyone beneath their flight paths. Hamptons’ resident Frank Dalene, a founding member of the Quiet Skies Coalition, says billionaire industrialist Ira Rennert is the worst offender. Here’s a video he recorded of Rennert’s Sikorsky S-92 and other noisy choppers buzzing the roof of his home:
For more on Hamptons helicopter feud, read my story from the July/August issue.
*According to the book “Philistines at the Hedgerow,” the previous owners of The Creeks, Albert and Adele Herter, employed gardeners who worked at night so as not to disturb the Herters during the day.
