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The small town of East Hampton has gained a reputation as the playground for New York’s well-heeled elite, a place to spend the idle summer months in their million-dollar homes. But some of its wealthy residents are upset at an influx of less well-heeled workers who they say are lowering the quality of life and diminishing the appearance of the quaint Long Island town. A campaign group is focusing on the Springs area of East Hampton, dubbing itself 'Unoccupy Springs' and calling for an end to multiple families of low-wage workers living under one roof.

Bidens holiday in HamptonsLast Updated: 12:42 AM, May 31, 2011 Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, spent Memorial Day weekend in the Hamptons at the home of Internet pioneer and gay, bisexual and transgender-rights activist David Bohnett. The Bidens stayed at Bohnett's sprawling Southampton estate and were seen lunching at popular 75 Main on Saturday before a relaxed veep happily accompanied his wife as she browsed at Alice & Olivia and Calypso. A spy told us, "He had three Secret Service agents inside the restaurant, including one watching in the kitchen while the chefs made Mr....

<p>The magnitude 3.9 quake was detected about 80 miles south-southeast of Southampton just before 10:45 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 122 miles from New York City. The quake was first reported by the Lamont-Doherty Cooperative Seismographic Network ( LCSN ) at Columbia University.</p>

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, landed in the Hamptons Friday for a family vacation with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights activist David Bohnett. -snip- According to the White House, Bohnett, who's made large contributions to the Democratic National Committee, is a family friend of the Bidens.

From a distance the teardrop-shaped peninsula looks just like any other bit of the famed Hamptons shoreline. Thick woods crowd down to the water's edge, and through the trees houses and roads can be glimpsed. But this land is not part of the Hamptons, neither is it really part of the United States any more. This patch – in the middle of the playground to Manhattan's social elite – is proudly and fiercely Native American country. Almost four centuries since their first contact with the white man and after a 32-year court battle that has just ended in victory, the...

EAST HAMPTON - A 27-year-old woman has been charged with two counts of risk of injury to a minor and reckless endangerment after two toddlers were found wandering around town in just their diapers, police said. Police found two boys, ages 2 and 3, close to Flatbrook Road in a wooded area near a stream. Police said the boys were outside for about an hour. When their mohter, Julie Root, showed up to the scene, she appeared to be under the influence of prescription pain medications, police said.

Rudy and Judi Giuliani were accosted today in the Hamptons by an angry man who threatened to "punch out" the former mayor, witnesses told The Post. Patrons sitting outside The Golden Pear bakery in downtown Bridgehampton around 2 p.m. said a "slim, well-dressed man in his fifties" came charging out of nowhere and began screaming at the happy couple as they left a nearby art fair. "I'm gonna punch your lights out," the wacko repeatedly yelled at Giuliani, witnesses said. Rudy and Judi appeared startled and then agitated by the man's aggressive behavior. At one point the man started jabbing...

At first glance it's a gated mansion worthy of a Gilded Age: more than 14,000 square feet with eight bedrooms, 9½ bathrooms, five fireplaces, a pool, a pond, a tennis court and ocean views all nestled amid fields perfect for lavish summer parties. Built on spec, this property was offered for sale in 2006 for $24.95 million. Today? Try $12.95 million -- and even that lower price hasn't yet lured a buyer. The mansion is now being sold at auction as part of a bankruptcy plan by the developer's firm. The manse stands unfinished, forlorn and uninhabited. "Tragic," says Andrew...

The social calendar is still a whirl of glamorous lawn parties, wine tastings, gallery openings, beach get-togethers and gala benefits in the Hamptons, the summer playground for the millionaire Learjet Set. But down at Town Hall, the local government could use a handout.

Sen. Clinton arrives ready to raise funds in East End; curtails questions about debate before primary U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton kicked off her Long Island fundraising tour Friday with an announcement about federal funding to save the shorelines and sidestepped whether she'd debate primary challenger Jonathan Tasini. (snip) "Well, we'll just have to see how the campaign develops," Clinton said at Overlook Beach in Babylon town. (snip) "I am lucky enough to have a lot of friends and supporters who are trying to help me by raising money so that I can wage a vigorous campaign and hopefully win...

SEN. Hillary Clinton is barnstorming the Hamptons this weekend to fill her campaign coffers with the help of her hubby, Bill. Last night, Michael Recanati co-hosted a dinner in East Hampton with Ira Statfeld at $4,200 per head, the max under federal law. Today's brunch thrown by Lisa Perry in Sag Harbor costs $2,000. Tonight, the ex-president joins Hillary at the East Hampton home of Michele and Bill Nuti, where Jon Bon Jovi will perform. Tickets are $300, but $1,000 will get you a backstage pass.

I'm a big fan of Rumsfeld and Cheney, but I have to tell you if Rumsfeld did ok this it's a serious lapse of judgement. I'm sure he didn't give the NY Times permission to tell everyone where his secret camera(s) are, but still it's not very smart on his part in my opinion.

Where are the Hamptons Deaniacs? Some of New York’s wealthiest Dem contributors were no-shows at a $5,000-per-couple Amagansett DNC fund-raiser Howard Dean hosted at the home of Margo and Robert Alexander on July 9—prompting worries that the donor elite are shutting their wallets to protest Dean’s shoot-from-the-lip party leadership. Sources say big-shot supporters Hassan Nemazee, Robert Zimmerman, Carl Spielvogel, and Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel played hooky. “Dean grew up in the Hamptons, and it was his first time back as chair, so he should have filled the room,” concedes a DNC official. “DNC staffers were really disappointed. It spoke to the lack...

It's not exactly San Juan Capistrano, and they're not exactly swallows. They're piping plovers and, for fans of the local fire department's Fourth of July fireworks display, this year the tiny shorebirds' annual return is no cause for celebration. Plovers build their nests right on the beach, and they are listed as threatened along the Atlantic Coast on the federal endangered species list. That means local officials must fence off any patch of sand where a nest is found, and beachgoers, along with their dogs and four-wheel-drive trucks, are personae non gratae in those spots. This week, village officials said...

-- Shinnecock Indian tribal leaders, hoping to build a casino at the gateway to the high-rolling Hamptons, filed a multibillion-dollar land claim lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday, targeting 3,600 acres of some of the priciest real estate in the country. In papers filed at U.S. District Court, the Shinnecocks claimed ownership of property including the Shinnecock Hills Golf Course - where three U.S. Opens have been played - as well as the National Golf Links of America and Long Island University's Southampton College. The neighborhood also features palatial estates that often sell for tens of millions of dollars. The...

Shinnecock Indians In Suit Over Hamptons AP Jun 13, 2005 7:39 am US/Eastern (1010 WINS) SOUTHAMPTON, Long Island The Shinnecock Indians are threatening a lawsuit - claiming they were given title to 36-hundred acres of land in the Hamptons back in 1703 -- and now they want it back. The land includes Southampton College, the Shinnecock Hills Golf Course and some of the most expensive real estate on Long Island's east end. Attorney John Peebles - who represents the Shinnecock Indians - says he will file a lawsuit in U-S District Court in Central Islip this week seeking the land...

Are they gone? Good. Now the remaining six Republicans in the Hamptons who read this column and I can have a nice intimate chat. Here's our challenge: How can we drive our Kerry-loving (formerly, although they now deny it, Howard Dean-loving) Democrat friends nuts? What the hell do they want? They are winning the state by an obscene margin. In the Hamptons, Democrats outnumber Republicans 100 to 1. When you count millionaires the number goes up to 1000 to 1. So what do we do? Here's my plan. Stay away from cocktail parties and dinner parties. Most Democrats love to...

The Hamptons may be Democrat country but John Kerry didn't make himself popular with all the locals this weekend. Well-to-do residents out for early morning bike rides and walks on Lily Pond Lane yesterday were incensed by the heavy-handed appearance of Secret Service, State Police, Suffolk Country police and East Hampton Village police, who all descended on the quiet street to clear the way for Kerry, who was heading for breakfast with Steven Spielberg on Georgica Pond. While cops closed off intersections, others on motorbikes blasted their horns at Sunday cyclists, joggers, senior citizens and mothers pushing baby strollers to...

Hundreds of well- heeled guests found themselves traipsing through mud to get to John Kerry's $1,000-a-head fund-raiser at the home of venture capitalist Alan Patricof Saturday night, after the event was turned into a political Woodstock by bucketing rain. Former model Christie Brinkley was overheard joking that the mud was a result of Republican campaign tactics. Meanwhile, first to collar the delayed presidential hopeful when he finally showed up was hip-hop mogul turned politico Russell Simmons, who pulled Kerry aside for a stern tete-à-tete on how better to relate to the voters. Outside, Jimmy Buffett performed for the waiting crowd,...

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y., Aug. 21 - Talk about soaking the rich. The Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, breezed through the Hamptons this weekend to attend private fund-raisers and siphon a couple of million dollars from the wealthy, left-leaning East End of Long Island. But the real story here was the rain. A driving downpour on Saturday night put Mr. Kerry's arrival and appearances behind schedule. Campaign workers held umbrellas for donors getting out of their cars. Hair frizzled and mascara ran. Montauk Highway became a pond. At a tent party for 800 guests (minimum entry fee: $1,000) at the home...