Village officials are assessing damage to a sensitive coastal ecosystem following a large party on a Hamptons beach, where concerns have been raised about the welfare of endangered piping plovers.
The event, hosted by nightlife promoter Richie Akiva and fashion brand Elie Tahari, drew an estimated crowd of over 1,000 people, significantly exceeding the approximately 400 attendees expected. Celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Alix Earle, Mike Tyson, Tobey Maguire, and Travis Scott were reported to be among the guests.
According to emails reviewed by Page Six, village authorities were surveying the beach for damage the morning after the event. "I will have the plover monitors go down [to the beach] and check," one official wrote in an email. "I am fairly certain the chicks are dead or displaced."
The stretch of beach between Sagaponack and East Hampton is a known breeding ground for the endangered piping plover. Revelers reportedly stayed past the permitted curfew, and some individuals gained access by circumventing security through the surrounding woods.
Concerns were also raised about the use of heavy equipment to remove a temporary metal roadway from the beach, a remnant of the party's infrastructure. Local residents complained that equipment and staging materials obstructed public parking spaces, hindering access to the beach on a busy summer day.
"Impinging public access to such an important public asset is beyond reason," one local resident wrote in an email to the village clerk, which included photos of the aftermath. Another email from a local resident to the village clerk, with the subject line "Sad day and major damage at… beach," documented the scene.
The village clerk declined to comment on specific allegations of damage or whether the hosts would be prohibited from future events, stating only that permit applications are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Representatives for Elie Tahari did not respond to requests for comment, and Akiva's representatives declined to comment.