AMAGANSETT, N.Y. — For generations, few beaches in the Hamptons were more coveted and jealously protected than Indian Wells.
Its high dunes and wide stretches of clean white sand have inspired painters and writers and fed real estate values of up to $20 million for the mansions that face it. And only cars with the blue-and-white permits of town homeowners can be parked in its lot, giving the beach an exclusive, local flavor.
Then, last summer, they started arriving by bus and by van, including one with an ominous black pirate flag — hundreds of young partyers from parts unknown, hauling kegs and cases of beer with them, guzzling it down fraternity style and, in a couple of cases immortalized in police summonses, relieving themselves in the dunes. The local newspaper, The East Hampton Star, called it The Invasion of the Beery Beach Blanketeers.
Now, all across the Hamptons, some residents are fearing that the shift in the societal order could be made worse this year by a new wave of partyers, driven north by Hurricane Sandy rebuilding efforts at New Jersey’s rowdy beaches.
They raise the question with only half-mock horror: Could Nicole Polizzi — a k a “Snooki” — be far behind, she who came to personify beach side drunken, disorderly conduct on MTV? “You don’t want to come across as snooty, but it’s about peace and quiet for all of us,” said Dayna Winter, 49, a registered dietitian and a year-round resident who watched with dismay last summer as some of the partyers tried to entice her 15-year-old niece to join them. (They failed.) “It’s not a party scene; it’s not what we want it to become.”
“With the devastation of Sandy,” she added, “we’re all a little nervous.”. . .