They're Off!

How they get there

AH, those weekends in the Hamptons. You spend Friday getting there, Saturday worrying about the return trip, and most of Sunday getting back.

Those who can, fly. East Hampton Aire transports highpowered executives like Mort Zuckerman and Pete Peterson. The plane usually takes forty minutes and costs sixty dollars each way. Even higher rollers are ferried aboard a private plane (entertainment lawyer Tom Baer), seaplane (David Mahoney), or corporate helicopter (Warner Communications C.E.O. Steve Ross and Bill Paley of CBS). Producer Marty Bregman, whose Sweet Liberty, with Alan Alda and Michael Caine, shoots in and around the Hamptons this summer, pilots his own twin-engine Aztec.

There are those who trust themselves to a two-hour ride (about twenty dollars) in the Long Island Rail Road's barequipped Parlor Car—Darren and Kathie McGavin are regulars. Others swear by the Hampton Jitney, twenty dollars one way, which includes a complimentary glass of Saratoga water. J. M. Kaplan Fund president Joan Davidson is a veteran jitney-ite. "One tries to avoid the lemmings," she says, adding, "It gets harder and harder and less and less pleasant each year." According to Hampton Jitney owner Jim Davidson (no relation), "the quickest, least crowded time from East Hampton to New York is ten A.M. seven days a week. From New York the two o'clock every day is the best." Hoping to fend off competition from private-limo companies, Hampton Jitney recently inaugurated its own "superstretch" service, starting at $125.

Marshall Cogan, co-owner of "21," doesn't need a limo— he's one of the busy biz men who are chauffeur-driven in their own cars. Publicist John Scanlon says he either flies or " I have Peter Jennings drive me out after he does the news on Friday night."

But most Hamptons commuters find themselves behind the wheel. Architects go sporty: Richard Meier zips out in a twoseat silver Mercedes; Robert Stern keeps the top down on his burgundy Chrysler LeBaron convertible. Novelist Joe Heller is attached to his "1970 fourdoor compact Buick that's totally lusterless. It's an embarrassment to my friends." Mobil Oil's Herb Schmertz bets on his gas-guzzling 1981 Olds 98 Regency—"You need the most steel and weight you can possibly get for the drive on the Long Island Expressway." Pete Hamill cranks up his silver Datsun 280 ZX and plays the music "real loud—one of various car tapes that I make. After you pass Exit 50 you can't get many of the New York City stations very clearly." ("WNCN fades at Exit 60," offers Herb Schmertz.)

Each driver has a theory about the best time to leave and the least clogged route, but, as director Bob Fosse sighs, "every time I go, I find a new traffic jam." Most of the commuters we surveyed stick to the L.I.E. and pooh-pooh the Queens service-road detours. Not that they're happy about it. Artist Jane Freilicher groans, "Everyone hates the L.I.E."

The Hamptons-bound leave the L.I.E. at Exit 70—"which is where the wives say, 'Can we stop, honey?' " according to screenwriter David Newman. On weekends, it does seem like customers at the Manorville Mobil do more business in the rest rooms than at the pump. Just down the road is the most popular nosh point: 7-Eleven, the Gateway Diner, and the fabled Grace's Famous hot-dog stand (right).

What do Manhattanites import for a summer weekend? Bob Fosse brings his cat; Nora Ephron stocks up on Zabar's "specials"—large kosher knockwursts. John Scanlon? "Actually, I bring my shoes to be repaired. At Vinnie's [the Cobblery], on Main Street in Sag Harbor.''

Cyndi Stivers