Boston Herald — Taylor Swift”s beach patrol upsets new neighbors

Taylor Swift, shown here on the beach in Hyannisport last summer, has relocated to Watch Hill, R.I., and not everyone’s happy.

June 4, 2013 — Updated Nov 17, 2018

By Gayle Fee

WESTERLY, R.I. — Taylor Swift was onstage with the Rolling Stones in Chicago last night — which was good news for Watch Hill, R.I., where some beach-goers are disgruntled about their new celebrity summer resident.

The pop superstar is the proud new owner of a $17 million waterfront manse on East Beach, but the presence of her security team is irritating some locals who had been used to using the beach in front of her compound with impunity.

According to a spokeswoman for the Watch Hill Fire District, which has jurisdiction over the beach, surfers and teenagers have been hanging out on the wall in front of Swift’s East Beach manse for generations. And beach-goers have gotten used to using the area in front of her property because no one had ever stopped them before, even though the sand above the high water mark is technically private.

But since the “22” singer moved in, residents have taken to Twitter to complain that her security people have booted the locals off the wall and stopped sun worshippers from setting up camp on her private beach. Swift’s muscle also patrol the public walkway to the beach, which abuts her property, to make sure no trespassers wander into her compound. And recently, a clean-up crew hired by the nonprofit East Beach Association was kicked off Swift’s beach while they tried to pick up debris.

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