Out of the NY Post today comes a tale of one man, Cass Almendral, and similar men like him who uses the allure of their Hampton’s villa to bait young NYC women desperate for a taste of the good life at no expense to them. Well, almost no expense to them…
In addition to the privilege of being the alpha male’s guest, ladies are escorted at all the best society parties the Hamptons can provide. It may seem giddy and innocent on the surface, but the understood message is, that Mr Almendral is using his the golden carrot of material wealth to appeal to women hungry to cash in on their looks in exchange for access to a certain lifestyle.
“If you own a house, you’re at a huge advantage,” he says. “That’s why I’m single. Every summer I can have a huge adventure.”
Indeed, summer in the Hamptons gives new meaning to the term “house hunting,” as hordes of cement-weary New Yorkers arrive on Long Island, willing to use their romantic wiles to snag the catch of the season — seaside-home-owning New Yorkers. These homeowners are generous with the invitations — as long as their guests are generous with other things.
And since this is summer and the temperature outside is sizzling who can refuse dutifully submitting oneself to the token alpha male who has implicitly rented you a fantasy in exchange for his own?
“I’ve had girls who’d take the bus over and linger around, then have sex with anyone who had a house,” says Almendral, the 50-year-old managing director of the Wall Street Solutions Group Inc.
“They weren’t hookers. They got by through the kindness of strangers . . . they see the Hamptons as an adventure that’s also a safe, luxurious experience.”
Who can resist luxury? But there’s a strategy to attaining such perks…
There are typically two types of Hamptons-home-hungry New Yorkers. There are the long-term planners, who set the trap early and start dating someone with a sandy abode in the spring (the better for feigning genuineness) and continue the lackluster relationship through Labor Day.
And then there are what veteran club owner Mark Baker likes to call the “professional guests.”
“Their job, all attractive women, is to track and hunt down guys in the Hamptons and make a beeline for the ones with houses so they’ll have a place to stay for the summer,” he says.
Which poses the question, what do all the other men who aren’t blessed with such assets and of course charm do? Work in jobs they don’t particularly like which nonetheless affords them the potential for vast riches and the women who follow? Disassociate themselves entirely from the Hamptons and hope that they are fortunate to find a woman who believes in the lip service that seems to be the preferred dogma of so many women- that we are all equal and can make our own wealth? Surely such women exist right? Or do they?
Whilst an unspoken rule exists as to how women must behave on such outings to the higher periphery of glamor and wealth, not all women necessarily play by the rules:
“My friend went out with this guy one weekend. And he was all upset that she didn’t hook up with him,” he says.
“And I said, ‘You shouldn’t be going out to the Hamptons for the weekend and not hook up with him. He is giving up his weekend for you and spending a lot of money on you . . . when you invite people up, the pretense is that you’re going to party and hook up.’ ”
Which if you ask me sounds like cheating a bait and switch game, but then again, should anyone really have any pity on these type of men who set themselves up to be used? But perhaps that’s the point, maybe men today don’t have a choice given the abundance of men who are all too willing to play this game, forcing men who have a libido and an ego to contend with to smarten up and play ball too.
And what do women think?
Newbies on the city scene are quickly initiated into the game.
“Some girls will pressure girls who are new to the city to be friends with a certain guy because of his Hamptons house,” says a 25-year-old woman who works at an investment banking firm.
“It’s an overarching theme of the summer — find a guy with a home and date him.”
In other words, playfully resist when it comes time to manifesting the relationship, so he doesn’t think you are an outright slut, but eventually give in because it’s a woman’s man’s world.
So much for equality amongst the sexes…
