Long Islanders in the Hamptons, on North Fork say business keeps hopping well past Labor Day

Not so fast, Tumbleweed Tuesday.

On Labor Day, many of the people who either serve the crowds who pack the East End during the high summer season, or who live there themselves, say they have no intention of calling it quits for the summer of 2025.

The big crowds at high-volume locations like Beach Bakery Grand Cafe and Goldberg’s Famous Bagels in Westhampton Beach may drop off, but weekends and holidays are seeing a greater influx from the live-in, year-round crowds, many from the COVID-era, and some who wish they could stay.

Farm stands are just getting started selling late-summer and fall crops, wineries and pumpkin patches are gearing up for the fall crowds, pool shops have a steady business before they start closing up pools and some of the busiest fishing of the year is just getting started.

"They used to call tomorrow Tumbleweed Tuesday, but they don’t leave anymore," said Tom Betjemann, 82, who has staffed the tollgate at Rogers Beach in the Village of Westhampton for the past 47 years. He and friends even used to have a Tumbleweed Tuesday dinner to mark the occasion. No more, he said. 

Betjemann said there appear to be more owners than renters who used to pile into the Hamptons, and that creates a steady year-round crowd, at least through late fall. 

Shelly Werbel has homes in Westhampton and Manhattan but spends most of her days through the winter in the village. Labor Day is "not the end at all," she said. If anything, the day after Labor Day provides "breathing room" for easier parking and space on the sidewalks.

In Eastport, Labor Day represents only a change in the attractions for the crowds who come to Olish’s Farm and Country Market, where owner Tracee Olish recently expanded to a second location at Citarelli’s Market in the hamlet.

The market hosts a Thrift Bazaar on Sept. 27 and 28, a Harvest Festival on Oct. 18 and 19 and attractions for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

On the North Fork, where apple picking season is just getting underway, and pumpkin pickers aren’t far behind, Charles Massoud, co-founder of family-owned Paumanok Vineyards in Aquebogue, said patterns have changed.

"The season has lengthened," he said.

"From now until Thanksgiving, Route 25 is like a parking lot," he said of the main east-west road through the North Fork. "When the beaches close, they flock to the farms. It’s very busy until Thanksgiving."

There are more permanent residents on the North Fork, as on the South Fork, he said. "Since COVID, there’s been a shift to more permanent residents."

Debbie Pettit, whose family owns White Rapids Pool Supplies, described the transition that takes place in September as a "slowdown," but only for the retail business. White Rapids caters to the large number of homeowners who have pools that stay open beyond Labor Day, then require closing them.

The Shinnecock Indian Nation’s annual powwow marks one milestone of the end of summer, concluding on Labor Day. The revenue generated for the nation’s government is only part of the draw of tribal businesses that continue long past that holiday, said Chuck Randall, a Nation member and owner of Eastern Botanical Creations, one of the dozens of tribal cannabis businesses that have sprouted in the past two years.

At Beach Bakery Grand Cafe, which stays open year-round, co-manager Aftab Ahmad said there’s no denying the drop-off in volume that takes place on Labor Day. By 2 p.m. Monday, he said it’s visible. Weekdays can see a drop of 50% or more. But after that, there’s a steady rhythm to the business that builds to busier weekends. This summer was busier than last year.

Fishing season is just getting started and the state on Monday announced the opening of cod season, and expansion of catch limits for black sea bass and porgies, two local favorites. John Kenny, of Westchester, was on the jetty at Shinnecock Inlet Monday, his clock about to run out. He’d be leaving by Monday night, and was desperate for a catch

"I’ll take whatever comes up," he said. "I don’t discriminate."