Coney ‘mayor’ back at negotiating table
BY BEN BRACHFELD
Coney Island’s unoffi cial
mayor Dick Zigun is back at
the negotiating table with the
venerable sideshow group he
co-founded, seeking a more
graceful exit after being unceremoniously
fi red last
month following an intractable
dispute over the terms of
his departure.
Zigun had previously promised
to spill the beans on his
exit as artistic director of Coney
Island USA on the afternoon
of Dec. 31, which was supposed
to be the fi nal day of his
tenure, after which a non-disclosure
agreement he was under
would expire. That morning,
though, the “permanently
unelected mayor” said in an
email that he would “prefer
to remain silent as efforts are
made to resolve recent issues.”
“I have troubles today that
I had not yesterday,” he said. “I
had troubles yesterday which
I have not today.”
Asked for clarifi cation, the
68-year-old carny said that
“there is an ongoing attempt
to mediate all the issues.”
Zigun, who as the founder
of the Mermaid Parade and
Coney Island Circus Sideshow
has been the most recognizable
face of the People’s Playground
(save for the iconic Funny
Face) for four decades, tweeted
on Christmas Day that he had
been canned from his position
effective Dec. 31. Zigun would
not say more, citing the NDA he
was under until the New Year.
On Dec. 27, Coney Island
USA posted a lengthy statement
COURIER L 6 IFE, JANUARY 7-13, 2022
on its website rebutting
Zigun’s claims he was fi red on
Christmas, arguing instead
that he had been booted from
the group after claiming sole
intellectual property rights
to stage the Mermaid Parade
and Circus Sideshow, which
the group vociferously denied
and described as an “existential
threat” to its future.
Since 2018, Zigun had been
engaged in talks over transitioning
out of his role as artistic
director, in which he would
be replaced by sword-swallower
and strongman Adam
Rinn, but the group said that
at the beginning of 2021, Zigun
claimed ownership over
Coney Island USA’s signature
events, including the rights
to stage them after he retired.
That created a rift between the
group and its fi gurehead, and
relations spiraled downward
until culminating in Zigun’s
fi ring in early December.
The group has since deleted
the statement from its website,
signaling that the impasse is
thawing. Coney Island USA
executive director James Fitzsimmons
did not respond to
requests for comment.
Zigun co-founded Coney Island
USA in 1980, when the area
was beset by high crime and
the amusement parks were in
decay, with the intent of showcasing
for the world Coney Island’s
weird, freaky side at a
time when it was mostly known
for violence. The stovepipe hattoting
Zigun leading the Mermaid
Parade while pounding
on a bass drum has become an
iconic neighborhood image, and
his fl air for the theatrical was a
key puzzle piece in Coney’s revitalization
in the 90s and 2000s.
As such, many of his colleagues
were distraught by
the events of the past month.
Jelly Boy the Clown, a swordswallower
and talent scout for
the Circus Sideshow, resigned
from Coney Island USA in direct
response to Zigun’s fi ring,
which he characterized
as being the work of wealthy,
non-artist board members
who were never fans of the
mayor’s to begin with.
“We wouldn’t slander Coney
Island in any way. The
only thing is that the founder
of the establishment is getting
a really rough deal from
the board of directors, who I
think are really out of touch,”
Jelly Boy told Brooklyn Paper
last week. “He added so much
to the culture and the community
of Coney Island. He
brought so much money to Coney
Island, and so much fun
and so much energy and life.”
Jelly Boy believes the
board has never fully appreciated
the role of Zigun, the sideshow
performers, and general
weirdness in the peninsula’s
fi rmament, and that that attitude
has been refl ected
throughout the dramatic saga
surrounding his departure.
“I think partly they do appreciate
weirdness,” Jelly Boy
said. “But I think they would
like to change things a little bit.
I think they’d like to make the
sideshow a little bit less edgy.
They’re trying to walk that line,
you know, burlesque and sideshow,
and the radical queer aspects
of the shows and parades
and stuff like that, they’re what
keeps people coming...and what
people love about Coney Island.
But they also want to keep it
family-friendly, and everybody’s
idea of what family-friendly is is
a little bit different.”
Zigun, in his message to
Brooklyn Paper and others,
said that while he’s still in negotiations,
he’s hoping to continue
playing a role in Coney
Island’s future.
“In my near future I hope
to assist building a bigger,
better, Luna Park,” he wrote.
“And who knows, there might
be an announcement about a
reality TV show soon.”
‘Mayor’ Dick Zigun. File photo by
Steve Solomonson
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