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These long-standing rules prove the East End’s charm comes with a side of quirk
The East End is famous for its celebs, pristine beaches, farm stands and, well, highly specific local laws. Thanks to a thorough dig into village and town codes, we’ve uncovered a handful of bizarre — and very real — rules still on the books in the Hamptons and the North Fork. And yes, you could technically be fined $1,000 for breaking some of them. Here are a few of our favorites.
Southampton
Keep your graffiti — and your filth — to yourself
Spray-painting a wall without permission is already illegal just about everywhere. But Southampton’s graffiti law also makes it a crime to “place filth or excrement of any kind” on public or private property without consent.
Consent!
Don’t even think about walking into town in a bikini
In Southampton Town, it’s not just about modesty at the beach — the law literally bans walking on a public street in a bathing suit in business districts.
“No persons attired in bathing suits or garments commonly used for swimming or public bathing shall enter any store, hotel or public building or walk or otherwise travel while so attired on any public street, road or public place.”
Violators could be fined up to $1,000 or even face 15 days in jail. Kids under 12 are exempt.
Sag Harbor
No disrobing in your wagon
Sag Harbor takes the bathing suit rules even further. Not only must you wear “suitable” attire when swimming within village limits, but it’s also illegal “to disrobe in any of the streets or public places or in any automobile or wagon in said streets or public places in said Village.”
Yes, the code still says “wagon.”
Please keep your pigs at home
Village code prohibits “any horses, cattle, sheep, swine, goats or fowl to roam at large or to be pastured in any street or public place within the corporate bounds of the Village.”
While it’s hard to imagine a herd of goats blocking traffic on Main Street today, the rule is still in effect.
East Hampton
Proudly nuclear-free
Some laws are so specific they read like a Cold War time capsule. In East Hampton, it is explicitly illegal to “deploy, construct, launch, maintain or store nuclear weapons or components of nuclear weapons” within town limits.
The town also posts signs “proclaiming the Town of East Hampton as a nuclear-free zone” and bans doing business with companies that make nuclear weapons or commercial nuclear power reactors.
Penalty for violations? $1,000 per offense.
Southold
Want more than 99 ducks? Better ask
In Southold, you can keep ducks for personal use — but “no person shall raise or keep ducks… in excess of 100 without first obtaining written permission of the Town Board.”
The law has been on the books for over 50 years.
No coasting!
An old Southold ordinance from 1915 regulates bicycles in language straight out of another era — and it’s surprisingly strict about your pedaling habits.
One section makes it illegal to “remove both feet from the pedals, or with the feet removed from the pedals to coast.”
The same code also bans “clinging to moving vehicles” and requires proper signaling, offering a charming peek into what life (and law enforcement) looked like for cyclists more than a century ago.
Information compiled by Lucas Ruadh. Top: Southampton Village, summer 2024. (GLI file photo/Michael White)
