Isaac Mizrahi knows – stealing copper is all the fashion in the Hamptons.
The designer to the stars checked in on his Bridgehampton property last week and found $1,000 worth of fixtures missing.
With copper’s global demand and value skyrocketing, he’s the latest victim of crooks who strip East End homes of copper for resale as scrap metal.
Southampton Town Detective Sgt. Randy Hintze estimates that he gets two such reports per week.
And with copper pieces readily available in homes unoccupied for months at a time, East Hampton Town Police Chief Todd Sarris said, summer homeowners may be unpleasantly surprised when they return for the season.
“We expect to get a lot of complaints,” he said. Christine Herbst, of Sagaponack, came face to face with some copper thieves last month. “They just drove right up and began ripping away,” she said. “They probably thought it was empty. It was a very bizarre thing to watch.”
Copper futures, 70 cents a pound a decade ago, now bring about $4 a pound. A major haul can net more than $1,000 for little work.