Hamptons elite welcomes actress Mariska Hargitay

For a certain crowd in the Hamptons, summer begins at Jason Binn’s house. The Niche Media mogul, who created Hamptons and Gotham magazines, brings out non-Hamptons celebs as well as the usual suspects to his Southampton home.

Sunday, he and wife Haley even got the elusive "Law and Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay -- this month’s Hamptons Magazine cover girl, seen here – to show up. “Happy Summer,” she announced. "Here’s to the kick off!"

“She doesn’t go out much,” Binn told the crowd, ”but she’s an amazing supporter of the town we live in. It really took a year to get her on the cover.”

How does he do it? “Anybody that meets Jason knows he’s a guaranteed good time,” Hargitay told us. “He’s a non-stop, traveling one-man party.”

“He’s a very handsome man,” deadpanned Kyle MacLaughlin, right, who never misses the party. On vacation from ABC's “Desperate Housewives,” he spends his time in the Hamptons working out, running and playing with his toddler son.

One theory: The celebs have to go out sometimes. They all told us all they want to do in the Hamptons is stay home and barbecue.

“Sitting outside in my own backyard with my goddaughter running around, that’s my perfect Hamptons day,” said Star Jones (seen here with Hoda Kotb), a Wainscott resident for 11 years. “Grilling a little fish, and spending time just with the people I love.”

“I hibernate in my house,” Hargitay told us. “That’s the whole point, isn’t it?” She bought her house out here two years ago, after coming out for 15. Her happy Hamptons Day? “To come out in the fall and winter and go on the beach with my son and husband.”

And a big welcome to the “Hoda Woman” (as Kathie Lee calls her), who stayed with jewelry designer Jennifer Miller. “Can you believe it, I’ve never been out to Southampton before?” Hoda Kotb gushed. It was 7 p.m., and she and Miller were just getting going. “We’re starting here and then we’re hopscotching around,” Kotb said. “There’s a party at a friend of hers [Jennifer] and then there’s a series of drinks and desserts.”

So, what does she think of the Hamptons? “C’mon!” she said. “What’s better than here?"