Thanks a lot, Irene!
Ex-President Bill Clinton, his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Madonna and a few other lucky folks will have a ritzy Hamptons beach all to themselves after Hurricane Irene crippled public access to the oh-so-chic stretch of sand — just in time for Labor Day.
The megastorm washed away massive amounts of sand at East Hampton’s Georgica Beach, leaving behind a five-foot drop from the public access point on the road, next to where the Clintons are renting a house on exclusive Lily Pond Lane, just down the street from Madonna’s shack.
The dangerous fall-off prompted officials to block the public from entering Georgica Beach there — meaning that members of the hoi-polloi who aren’t staying on Lily Pond Lane have to walk at least a mile from the nearest open access point.
The beach is routinely rated one of the 10 best in the country because of its natural beauty and the celebrities who flock there.
“This is the most severe erosion I’ve seen in that area since the ’70s,” marveled East Hampton Village Administrator Larry Cantwell. “It’s bad. It’s closed indefinitely.”
Coastal geologist Aram Terchunian told The Post, “The beach was narrow going into the storm, so it didn’t put up much resistance, and the waves just penetrated directly into the dunes.”
The closure will undoubtedly keep out Georgica Beach regulars, such as “Coldplay” singer Chris Martin and film director Steven Spielberg, along with hip-hop and clothing impresario Russell Simmons, who normally does his daily yoga routine there.
Hundreds of others who typically flock to Georgica Beach on the Labor Day weekend, hoping to lie in the sun and the shadows of the famous, are also likely to head elsewhere.
Meanwhile, in less glamorous post-Irene news:
* Gov. Cuomo asked President Obama to expedite the state’s request for major disaster reimbursement funding.
* About 12,000 residents remained without power in New York City, another 26,000 were in the dark in Westchester County, and a whopping 240,000 lacked electricity on Long Island.
* The Long Island Railroad said last night that it’s resuming full service today on all of its lines except the Montauk branch east of Speonk.
* Scores of people remained stranded at JFK Airport, where their nerves were wearing as thin as the cots they have slept on since Saturday.
* Insiders said the failure of Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo to appear jointly at press conferences related to the hurricane preparations and aftermath highlighted a tense relationship between the two.
Additional reporting by Erik Kriss, Reuven Fenton and
David Seifman