A self-described veteran Hamptons squatter has revealed her methods as well as her code of ethics.
The mysterious moocher said she spent “summer after summer in my 20s living large” in the Hamptons entirely for free, according to a piece she wrote in the New York Post. The writer is identified only as “anonymous.”
More recently, the state’s eviction moratorium has allowed some renters to squat for long periods at their Hamptons rentals. Some owners have turned to the courts to kick them out.
But the Hamptons squatter’s routine far predated the pandemic and did not deny the rightful owners their abodes.
She found her way to the East End with a summer job at an East Hampton clothing store, and began squatting at multimillion-dollar mansions through service industry friends she met there.
When frienda found out a client would be away, they would invite everyone else over to the ownerless estate. The author said she usually stayed for a few days and sometimes as long as five.
Because the friends had worked with the homeowner before, they often knew the full-time staff, who were “always happy to see us,” the writer claimed.
Chefs enjoyed seeing leftovers eaten rather than trashed, and pool staff was happy to have a “bikini-clad body to swim in the painstakingly cleaned pool,” according to the first-person account.
If an employee didn’t know the interlopers, they just pretended to be regular guests, she said.
“My friends and I were equal parts fit, attractive and white,” the author wrote. “It’s sad, but that combination really does open doors.”
She said she had certain rules when squatting. She never ate in the formal dining rooms and never drank from the home’s supply of booze. She also never entered the main suite.
“It felt like the ultimate violation of privacy,” she wrote.
There was only one close call — when a homeowner found that some fishing gear was damaged. Chargers were never filed.
[NYP] — Dennis Lynch