This ‘mayor’ is out, too!
Coney big: Nonprofit fired me
His life’s no longer a beach. Self-proclaimed “Mayor of Coney Island” Dick Zigun says he has been sent to sleep with the fishes by the nonprofit he co-founded that runs the Mermaid Parade, the Coney Island Museum and its famed circus sideshows.
Zigun, 68, who is credited with raising the profile of the seaside destination, broke the titanic news Dec. 25 on Twitter that he had been axed as artistic director of Coney Island USA, which he helped create in 1980.
His replacement: a professional strongman who also swallows swords.
“I was FIRED for Christmas effective December 31st,” Zigun wrote. “Locks have been changed . . . Might have more to say next week.”
For more than four decades, Zigun battled developers, lobbied City Hall to revive the Brooklyn amusement district, and banged a bass drum at the head of the annual Mermaid Parade in a top hat, an antique wool bathing suit and a sash with “Mayor” on it.
But he and the nonprofit have been battling since last January, when Zigun asserted that he, not Coney Island USA, owned the rights to the parade and the circus sideshow, according to the group’s board of directors.
Zigun earned $66,528 as artistic director in 2019, Coney Island USA’s most recent tax filings show.
The board posted a rebuttal to Zigun last Monday, claiming he wasn’t technically fired and called his posting a “shameless bid for sympathy.”
“Though attempts were made to resolve the matter, Dick stuck to his claims,” the statement said. “The conflict of interest festered and hampered Coney Island USA’s operations.”
Zigun in 2018 “requested” a transition to new leadership and supported hiring strongman/sword swallower Adam “Real Man” Rinn as his replacement, the directors said.
Zigun sadi his work in Coney Island is not done, hinting he may be “involved” in a planned expansion of Luna Park and a reality-TV show.
“I am fired, so I need a job,” he told The Post. “But I’ll always be the ‘permanently unelected mayor of Coney Island.’ I will continue to dress the way I dress, and behave the way I behave.”