For a certain fabulous set in New York City, summer weekends in the Hamptons, beaches at the tip of Long Island known to attract the well-heeled, are a must after a long week of work. The problem is getting there.
Drive times on the east-bound stretch during the summer can take up to 5 hours—a trip without traffic that would take about two.
New York publicist Rachael Anderson says it’s a nightmare trying to get to there, especially during the summer.
“I love being at the beach in Montauk during the summer—it’s my happy place! But sitting in traffic for 3, 4, sometimes 5 hours is not. I’ve tried nearly every method of transportation to get there: Jeep, Jitney, train…even my friend’s motorcycle. I dread them all,” she said.
Enter Blade, a crowd-sourced helicopter app that’s like the taxi-booking site Uber but for the skies. “We created a brand where there was none,” says Evan Licht, general manager of Blade. “Traveling from point A to point B used to be faxes and tail numbers,” he said, referring to ordering a private helicopter ride. “Now it’s 3 taps on our app.”
