Chaos At Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s Gate

Cars are crashing everywhere, from Elaia Estiatorio to the Carter house. Plus: the latest chapter in the Mugrabi saga and the launch of our Elite Events listings.

Over the summer, there’s a stop sign and pedestrian crossing at the entrance to Sunset Beach Hotel on Shelter Island that I call “the influencer crosswalk.” It’s notorious for blocking traffic while men in Casablanca button-ups and women carrying Loewe raffia bags take selfies. On weekend afternoons, the influencers and wannabe-influencers tend to veer outside the zebra crossing, because their exuberance after 17 glasses of Whispering Angel cannot be contained. It’s kind of like the Sushi Park of The Hamptons. The town takes the stop sign away after Labor Day, and it’s another nine months before the circus begins again.

The influencer crosswalk was in full effect this Sunday, as Sunset Beach set up a giant outdoor screen for the World Cup finals (a generous gesture that was only slightly undercut by the screen freezing at a few key moments). Sunset Beach upheld its “Mediterranean” reputation, with women in thong bikinis and men smoking giant cigars wandering by. The hotel’s proprietor, André Balazs, held court in yellow-tinted Jacques Marie Mage-ish sunglasses and striped sneakers.

High summer means stogies and skimpy swimsuits, but it also means a clusterschmuck of traffic—especially across Route 27. In addition to a car smashing straight into the beloved Elaia Estiatorio restaurant in Bridgehampton (everyone’s OK, minus some chairs and tables), Jay-Z and Beyoncé had an unexpected visitor at their estate. More on that, as well as a fire-sale of the Mugrabi mansion, for paid subscribers below. Plus: the launch of our “Elite Events” section, with a carefully curated list of things you’d actually want to do, including talks by Maggie Haberman, Derek Blasberg, and John Waters and a Julian Schnabel screening.