New York City's wealthy elite, who fled America's coronavirus epicenter, are receiving their mail first class after hiring limousine drivers to deliver letters and packages to their lavish beach homes and rentals in the Hamptons.
That's where Mark Vigliante comes in. Vigliante is the president of M&V Limousine Limited, which is now providing a mail delivery service for those New York City residents who recently fled to the Hamptons.
Vigliante told Vice that his limousine drivers have already started making runs from Manhattan to the Hamptons.
According to Vigliante, business has slowed down so he had to find ways to be innovative.
New York City's wealthy elite, who fled America's coronavirus epicenter, are receiving their mail first class after hiring limousine drivers to deliver their letters and packages to their lavish beach homes and rentals in the Hamptons (pictured on Tuesday)
Mark Vigliante, who is the president of M&V Limousine Limited, which is now providing a mail delivery service for those New York City residents who recently fled to the Hamptons
The mail delivery, which costs a few hundred dollars, has allowed him to keep up to 15 per cent of his drivers employed.
So far, the drivers have gone to homes on the Upper West Side to pick up packages, bills, letters and other items, that were then delivered to the rich in the Hamptons.
Vigliante said there have also been some odd deliveries, referring to one customer requesting his drivers transport his bicycle.
'It's a lot of mail and a lot of packages,' Vigliante said. 'It's a lot of groceries, too, and luggage. Some of it's more odd. One dude had us transport a bicycle.'
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He also said that these deliveries now make up 30 per cent of his business.
'To be honest with you, if it keeps going well, we'll probably keep doing it after things get better,' Vigliante told Vice.
Earlier on Tuesday, it was reported that tensions are rising in small towns where New York City residents have fled to escape the coronavirus hotspot as locals complain of ransacked supermarkets.
The so-called 'coronavirus refugees' have been leaving the Big Apple in droves, snapping up rental properties in quiet communities where the threat of contracting the deadly bug is significantly lower.
So far, the drivers have gone to homes on the Upper West Side to pick up packages, bills, letters and other items, that were then delivered to the rich in the Hamptons (pictured)
Beaches in the Hamptons have been filling up earlier than usual as New Yorkers flee to Long Island to escape coronavirus
People were seen out and about in the Hamptons this week after fleeing from New York City
This graphic shows the areas where New Yorkers are fleeing in a bid to get away from the coronavirus
But full-time residents of those towns are pulling back their welcome mats, fearing that the influx of visitors will bring infection that much closer to their doorstep while overwhelming already stretched resources.
Local leaders in a number of vacation destinations across the Northeast, including the Hamptons, upstate New York and Martha's Vineyard, have called for travel bans on refugees from New York City, citing a strain on the food supply and concerns that regional health systems will collapse.
In the absence of such a ban, several communities have pleaded with visitors to stay away, while others are taking matters into their own hands by ordering mandatory quarantines for people coming in from coronavirus hot zones.
In the Hamptons, full-time residents have flooded social media with photos of overcrowded grocery stores where shelves have been emptied by panic-buying customers stocking up for self-isolation.
At a Stop & Shop in East Hampton on Sunday, the store was so busy that employees had to supervise lines to keep people six feet apart and put up barriers to protect cashiers.
Tensions have been rising in small towns where New York City residents have fled to escape the coronavirus hotspot as locals complain of ransacked supermarkets and hospitals grow more and more crowded
This image shows the empty shelves at the East Hampton Stop & Shop
Long Island's coveted beach towns have seen a surge in demand for rental homes. Some residents claim that property managers have asked them to leave so their homes could be rented out for a higher price to wealthy visitors from New York City.
Several celebrities are among the alleged coronavirus refugees filling up local beaches - including Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson and Anna Wintour.
The leaders of four Hamptons communities wrote to Gov Andrew Cuomo on Friday urging him to take action and ban residents coming to the East End.
In Cape Cod, Massachusetts, more than 5,000 people have signed a petition to close bridges linking the area to the mainland to physically block out-of-state visitors.
In Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island, community leaders are discouraging second-home owners and other travelers from harder-hit areas from visiting the area, where hospitals are already reporting shortages in beds and supplies.
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