A member of the city’s Coney Island Development Corp. has been quietly living in a beachfront building rent-free on the taxpayer’s dime, thanks to a $3.6 million sweetheart deal he cut last year with the Bloomberg administration, the Post has learned.
And now, board member Dick Zigun is showing his ingratitude by planning to resign from the agency overseeing Coney Island development to protest the administration’s revamped vision for the fabled amusement district.
Zigun confessed Friday that he’s lived for the past decade on the second floor of the majestic Surf Avenue building that also houses a nonprofit organization he founded in 1980.
Zigun’s Coney Island USA – which runs a world-famous circus sideshow and museum and organizes the annual Mermaid Parade – had been paying $100,000-a-year rent on the site until 2007, when the city handed it $3.6 million in taxpayer-funded grant money to buy the building from its previous owner as part of an expansion plan.
But Zigun’s secondary use of 1208 Surf Ave. as his home appears to be a blatant violation of the funding agreement with the city.
The agreement stipulates that the site must be used “for the benefit of the people of the city,” such as for a museum or cultural arts center dedicated to preserving Coney Island’s history. It doesn’t include provisions allowing the building – which is zoned for amusements and entertainment – to be used for residential use.
Lynn Kelly, president of the Coney Island Development Corp., expressed both shock and skepticism over the newspaper’s findings.
“The city has no indication of anyone living there,” she said.
“It sounds like one of those great Coney Island rumors that may or may not be true. If it’s true, there will likely be a city investigation.”
But Zigun, 55, admitted to The Post that he lives in the building after being told his driver’s license, voter-registration records and court documents list “1208 Surf Ave.” as his home address as far back as 1996.
Known as the “Mayor of Coney Island,” Zigun even took a reporter on a tour of his modest living accommodations, which include two small rooms and a bathroom on the second floor.
The space, which Zigun said he also uses as an office, includes a brown leather couch near his work area that folds out into a small bed.
“I’ve been in Coney Island 24/7 most of my life without much of a life,” said the charismatic, heavily tattooed Zigun, whose impressive resume includes a master of fine arts degree from the Yale School of Drama.
“For a lack of a life, this has been my address. My wife is not in the USA. When she was, I had a proper apartment.”
Zigun then tried to convince the reporter not to write about the living arrangements, saying, “I’ll probably have to find a new apartment if this gets published.”
Zigun has served on the Coney Island Development Corp. the past three years and was a staunch supporter of the city’s original master plan for rezoning the area. But he said he believes the new 47-acre plan released two months ago gives up too much outdoor amusement space in favor of more retail and 30-story hotels.
Coney Island USA is also eligible to draw another $2.4 million in city grants for the purchase of another nearby building as part of its expansion plan.
But Zigun said he fears his decision to publicly oppose Mayor Bloomberg’s new rezoning plan for Coney Island could jeopardize that funding.
“This is incredibly awkward and foolish on my part because it might cost me additional funding,” Zigun said. “I greatly appreciate what the city has done for us, but the administration couldn’t be so wrong” about the rezoning.
“I’m the only representative of the amusement district on the CIDC, so if I didn’t speak up, who would?” he said.
City officials said $2.4 million is still set aside for Zigun’s organization in next fiscal year’s budget.
Coney Island USA is currently in the process of renovating the building’s first floor to expand its lobby, gift shop and “Freak Bar” by using money Zigun said the organization raised on its own.
Kelly said the city’s funding agreement with Zigun’s organization was researched by city lawyers and found not to be a conflict of interest because no money ever went through the CIDC; instead it went through the city’s Economic Development Corp.
“We felt if Coney Island USA could become a year-round cultural institution and fixture it would help preserve Coney Island’s legacy,” she said.
She declined to say whether Zigun’s living arrangements could affect his organization’s city funding.
Zigun said he plans to resign from the CIDC effective June 24 — the same day the city is holding its first public hearing on the revised rezoning plan.