Coronavirus drives the wealthy to the Hamptons
Well-off New Yorkers are chartering private jets to fly them to the East End of Long Island
The wealthy are "socially distancing" themselves — in the Hamptons.
Because of the advice to keep away from crowds because of the coronavirus pandemic, the well-off are escaping to the tony New York enclave in East End of Long Island amid the pandemic that’s resulted in school closings, work-from-home policies and social distancing to isolate in a more luxurious, oceanfront ambiance.
The wealthy are escaping to beachfront properties in the Hamptons to wait out the coronavirus. (Getty Images/iStock photo).
"We're headed to the Hamptons with my whisky and Lysol wipes," Julie Macklowe, who lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, told Bloomberg.
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Macklowe said she's called off events and meetings and says her kids will FaceTime with friends in lieu of playdates.
Other homeowners have been getting unsolicited offers from people looking to lease as soon as possible.
"I've gotten so many requests to rent right now," Victoria Shtainer, a broker with Compass in Manhattan who owns a home in Southhampton told Bloomberg.
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Others, meanwhile, are taking full advantage of discounted airline tickets so they can get out of town while they can and at any cost.
Private jets to fly the wealthy out to the Hamptons are also in high demand as the rich opt to fly private to reduce the risk of exposing themselves and their families to the virus.
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Still, the coronavirus has made its way to the Hamptons. As of Wednesday, Bloomberg reported Southampton Hospital had one confirmed case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in Suffolk County and students from Stony Brook college who returned from Europe are in isolation at the hospital.
Some millennials, meanwhile, are booking cross-country flights for the summer.