An influx of residents during the pandemic has strained cellphone and internet signals, making a booster the new must-have accessory. Taryn Lawrence,

Can You Hear Me Now, in the Hamptons?

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2021-05-30 15:00:09

An influx of residents during the pandemic has strained cellphone and internet signals, making a booster the new must-have accessory.

Taryn Lawrence, 44, a stay-at-home mother who moved to Southampton Village six years ago, has plenty to say about cellphone reception in the area — if you can hear her. “There have always been areas where you know your phone call will drop out,” she said. “But it started getting gradually worse.”

This year, the must-have Hamptons accouterment is neither a reservation at Nick & Toni’s nor a rental within walking distance of Cooper’s Beach, but a cellphone booster, bought through cellphone providers or places like Best Buy, and which costs $200 to $1,100, plus fees.

The Hamptons, a 30-mile stretch of hamlets east of Long Island’s Shinnecock Canal, have pristine beaches, excellent restaurants and a celebrity crowd. But the area’s infrastructure fails to meet the needs of its swelling summer population, a problem that seems to have grown worse with an influx of urban expatriates during lockdown.

“The infrastructure was adequate for maybe nine months of the year, but would be stressed, even before the pandemic, during the summer,” said Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., whose district includes the Hamptons.