New York, Oct 6 (AFP/APP):Beach umbrellas are back in garages as temperatures cool, but wealthy New Yorkers are staying in the Hamptons beyond summer, fearful of the pandemic and rising crime in the city. Robert Moore, a silver-haired digital entrepreneur, has been ensconced in his villa in Amagansett, a stone’s throw from the beach, since March 13 when coronavirus began spreading across New York. But the 58-year-old has decided not to return to New York, his home of 26 years. He had planned to “live a more nomadic life” anyway but never envisaged leaving Manhattan. The pandemic changed that. “If I have a choice, I don’t have to be there so I’d rather not be,” Moore told AFP. As New York became an early epicenter of America’s outbreak earlier this year, the city’s well-off flocked to the Long Island destination, which is just two hours by car from the Big Apple. “When Covid hit in mid-March, the rental market blew up,” recalled real estate agent James McLauchlen. “It was just kind of a wild scene. People were bidding $80,000 for a summer rental that was available for $50,000. They just wanted to be out here,” he added. McLauchlen says several … Continue reading Amid pandemic, crime spike, rich New Yorkers cocoon in plush Hamptons