Coronavirus crisis prompting Manhattan residents to head out East, officials say

More people from Manhattan are making their way out toward the East End as the coronavirus crisis continues, according to public officials.

In East Hampton, Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said Saturday that he had seen an uptick in the amount of second homes and rentals in town this month since the crisis began.

“It’s as though summer has come early. I don’t think we’re quite as crowded as peak summertime, but it’s hard to gauge given that everybody is seeming to follow the very good advice of staying indoors and away from others,” Van Scoyoc said.

However, Van Scoyoc added, unlike most years, the closing of retail stores and other businesses due to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s executive orders to prevent the virus’s spread means that it’s not “business as usual” in East Hampton.

In Southampton, Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said he had also heard that more people had been coming out earlier to Southampton than their usual summer arrival.

“We do have a lot more space out here, bigger housing and they can leave their smaller apartments and we do have all the open park lands, so I’m not surprised,” Schneiderman said. “I do think people do want to use their summer residences earlier as an option. They might feel as though it’s safer out here.”

Suffolk Legis. Bridget Fleming (D-Noyac) said her office had also seen the rental market heat up as well as more second homeowners coming out East.

“It’s really much more like the summer time than a late March out here,” Fleming said.

So far, neither Schneiderman or Van Scoyoc are anticipating that more Manhattanites coming East earlier will have a detrimental impact on crucial services such as emergency care, as those arriving East are staying home as per Cuomo’s orders.

Schneiderman, Fleming and Van Scoyoc said the early arrivals of Manhattanites out East could provide a boost to businesses who have been struggling since the epidemic forced them to reduce hours or close themselves to the public. Local restaurants, in particular, are among the businesses that could benefit via more takeout orders.

“We’re used to the demand that the summer brings on our merchants. It might help some of the local restaurants stay afloat, the ones that are doing takeout, it could help save them if they have more customers because a lot of people are staying home and cooking in,” Schneiderman said.

While he had some concern of the availability of ICU beds at hospitals if large crowds start showing up for COVID-19 testing, Schneiderman said local hospitals told him they have not seen a rise in people from Manhattan coming to use the local medical facilities or requiring medical attention, and that those caseloads have remained normal so far.

Van Scoyoc said while he had been concerned that people coming to East Hampton would go about their daily lives as normal, he had seen that many were aware of social distancing and shorter store hours because of the virus. Van Scoyoc added the town is also taking an aggressive approach in limiting crowd gatherings.

As a message for people coming out earlier from the city, Fleming said she is asking them to “practice humanity and kindness,” practice social distancing and to avoid over-purchasing vital items at supermarkets, pointing out that Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone was told by grocery store owners this week that they did not have supply shortages.

“We welcome the economic infusion into the local restaurants, but we need people to be sensitive to the fact that if they empty a shelf, that means someone else who has a need won’t be able to get it until the next day. It’s very hard for these stores to keep up with stocking when people are buying an entire shelf of any particular item,” Fleming said.