Hampton Habitués

Summertime in the Hamptons brings some of the best opportunities on the planet for celebrity sightings. Whether they’re visiting for the first time, are high-profile second home owners who come out for the weekends and holidays, or the prominent people who have chosen to hunker down here year-round, the East End does not disappoint when it comes to those in the limelight.

Frequent visitor Lady Gaga was snapped tiptoeing through the tulips here back in June. Actually it was the trails at Montauk but you get the gist. Enjoying some much needed downtime, Mother Monster and her beau, Christian Carino, took to the hills during a brief vacation out east where she was photographed hiking in nude stilettos, an ankle-length skirt and flouncy designer crop top. Athleisure is apparently not in the “Star is Born” lead’s extensive fashion vocabulary. Rumored to be considering purchasing a place in Montauk (and perhaps even getting hitched), Gaga is currently deep in rehearsals for her upcoming Joanne World Tour, which kicks off in August.

Eldest Former First Daughter Malia Obama was also spotted out in Montauk recently. Celebrating her 19th birthday, which just happens to have been the Fourth of July, the Harvard-bound lovely and her pals spent a low-key evening dining and dancing at The Surf Lodge.

Award-winning actor Robert Downey Jr. has added Hamptons homeowner to his considerable list of accomplishments. The “Iron Man,” “Spider Man” and “Avengers” series star—who shared the screen in his first outing as Tony Stark with Amagansett gal Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Pots in 2008 and again in “Spider Man: Homecoming” this summer—closed on the famous Edward DeRose Windmill Cottage in East Hampton early in the season. Since, he’s been dropping hints that he’ll hang up his superhero suit before it gets “embarrassing.” In the meantime, he’s got at least one more shot at it, with “Avengers: Infinity War” coming out next year. Also on his plate: a just-announced triple dip as Sherlock Holmes with Rachel McAdams and Jude Law, the lead role in “The Voyage of Dr. Doolittle,” slated for a 2019 release, and a turn as scheming huckster John Brinkley in a Richard Linklater-directed biopic.

Food Network star Katie Lee has put her Water Mill home on the market but she’s staying put here in the Hamptons, she says. “The Kitchen” host is an enthusiast of East End bounty, which she’s featured aplenty in her cookbooks, including “Endless Summer” and “The Comfort Table.” Plus, she’s an avid surfer and has just bought a new Boston Whaler. Now she’s just got to find a property where she can put it to use.

Tennis player John McEnroe sold his Southampton estate in May but don’t count him out for the East End yet either. He and his wife Patty Smyth, as well as exhibition doubles partner and brother, Patrick, and his family, have spent many a summer here. The US Open and Wimbledon winner, who has also covered the net games as an announcer since his retirement from serious competition, has a new book out. Released in June, “But Seriously” digs deep into the demons that the brash player faced on and off the court. Hailed as “the sports book of the year,” it’s filled with McEnroe’s witticisms, sharp insider’s perspective and sometimes brutal opinions.

Lastly, what’s better than a hot summer romance? Not much. Especially when it’s between two sizzling East Enders such as Scarlett Johannson and Colin Jost. The two performers—she’s got a crash pad in Amagansett and he’s got one in Montauk—apparently met in NYC during filming at “Saturday Night Live” and have allegedly been an item since. It’s been reported that they’ve been caught canoodling (best word ever) out east at The Palm in East Hampton and Ditch Plains Beach in Montauk. Cheers to that!