Pirate booted out: popcorn mogul’s coup in New York village falls flat

The popcorn mogul who founded Pirate’s Booty Snacks tried to commandeer a New York village’s local government, storming this minuscule municipality’s office armed with a false statement claiming that he was mayor.

Robert Ehrlich strode into the town hall of Sea Cliff, a village of fewer than 5,000 residents within the larger town of Oyster Bay on Long Island, with all the finesse of a literal pirate on 10 March.

He “presented a statement falsely asserting his authority as mayor, demanding access to office space, and declaring that the entire village staff was fired effective immediately but could reapply for their jobs”, authorities said on Facebook.

Ehrlich, 66, cited a New York state law that permits local residents “to dissolve their town or reformulate it”, the New York Times explained. Under this legislation, one needs signatures from 10% of town voters.

Ehrlich brandished an envelope claiming that he had 1,800 signatures – but reportedly refused to show it to town workers, alleging that signatories were worried about blowback.

After his failed takeover, Ehrlich entered Sea Village’s mayoral race as a write-in candidate. On Tuesday, Ehrlich lost heavily to the incumbent, Elena Villafane, in a 1,064-to-62 vote, according to reports.

Ehrlich’s mutinous moves are reminiscent of the campaign by Donald Trump’s key aide Elon Musk to slash federal spending as head of the so-called “department of government efficiency”, an ad-hoc body created by the US president upon returning to the White House two months ago. Doge staffers have repeatedly arrived at federal agency offices demanding access to premises and computer data, while firing or putting on notice hundreds of thousands of public service employees. Many of his moves have been successfully challenged in court.

After village employees told Ehrlich that his proclamation was “invalid and unsupported by law”, they asked him to leave. But Ehrlich and his associates turned “increasingly confrontational and refused” the village said in a Facebook post.

The pushback left Ehrlich’s timbers un-shivered. Although city staff kept calm, Ehrlich and his crew “raised their voices, used profane language, made outlandish claims, and engaged in direct harassment of Village personnel”, the post added – and would not raise anchor.

This created “a hostile and disruptive environment that required police intervention”. Village workers suffered “nearly an hour of escalating hostility before Mr Ehrlich and his associates left and order was restored”.

Village leaders thanked office staff for remaining cool-headed and respectful despite “being subjected to intense and outlandish behavior”.

“They are a credit to our Village and demonstrate the motto of ‘Keep Calm and Carry On,’” the Facebook post said.

After his loss, Ehrlich reportedly insisted “I’m still the mayor” and, like Trump since his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, claimed the village election “was rigged”.