Dick Zigun — a tattooed heir of sorts to P.T. Barnum — has reigned as the unelected mayor of Coney Island since the seediness of the 1970s. He threw himself into restoring its carnivalesque glory, opening a circus sideshow and a museum and the annual Mermaid Parade.
Now, in a squabble over money, he has been fired by Coney Island USA, the nonprofit he helped start.
James Fitzsimmons, Coney Island USA’s executive director, disputed Zigun’s characterization of his departure, saying it was part of a planned transition that Zigun upended by demanding a pension. Fitzsimmons said that Zigun had been offered a severance package but was “convinced that someone owes him a retirement or, you know, security for the rest of his life.”
“It’s just not possible, and he’s known that for years,” Fitzsimmons declared.
Zigun — a sometimes prickly character with a flair for promotion (and self-promotion) — countered that the severance offer was well short of what he deserved.
The rupture comes after what Fitzsimmons called a “very horrible period” brought on by the pandemic. The Mermaid Parade, which organizers call “the nation’s largest art parade” and which drew 800,000 people in 2019, went online in 2020. It was shelved entirely last summer, with Surf Avenue serving instead as a vaccination site after the Delta variant of the coronavirus emerged.
The Coney Island Circus Sideshow, which Zigun started in the mid-1980s, features a roster of people who eat fire and swallow swords, among them performers like Adam Rinn, Zigun’s designated successor as artistic director of Coney Island USA. Rinn, 50, saw his first Coney Island show when he was 15 and went on to learn to handle swords and fire — and to walk on glass, lie on a bed of nails and hammer nails into his face. “I guess I’d be considered a quick learner,” he said.
Zigun said the problems began when he turned 60 and asked the board of Coney Island USA about a pension. The board said no, and he asserted intellectual property rights over the parade and the sideshow, he said.
The Downfall of Andrew Cuomo
The path to resignation. After drawing national praise for his leadership in the early days of the pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was confronted with several scandals that eventually led to his resignation on Aug. 10, 2021. Here is what to know about his political demise:
He said he “would be left destitute” by the severance he was offered.
“What am I going to do after the money runs out?” asked Zigun, who was paid $66,528 as artistic director in 2019, according to a tax filing.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest For News Update Click Here
