Pirate's Booty founder stages ‘attempted coup' by declaring himself mayor of Long Island village — residents say old beef to blame
He's trying to pillage the village.
The creator of popular cheese-buff brand Pirate's Booty is staging an 'attempted coup' of a Long Island village — as residents speculate he's trying to get back at them due to a longstanding beef.
Robert Ehrlich, 66, alongside a three-man crew, stormed into Sea Cliff's village hall Monday, declaring that he was its new mayor and everyone was fired before he demanded an office.
Town officials say the standoff lasted about an hour — with police eventually showing up to defuse the situation before Ehrlich and his fellow insurrectionists left peacefully without being arrested.
'He is f–king crazy,' one Sea Cliff resident, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of legal retaliation, told The Post Friday — the day Ehrlich was seen waving a massive American flag on the streets of the Nassau County enclave.
'It was an attempted coup.'
He and other villagers said they believe this is simply Ehrlich's way of retaliating against the village after defeating him in a 2003 federal lawsuit in which the Pirate's Booty founder accused officials of harassing the local businesses he owned because he was Jewish.
Ehrlich was ordered to pay Sea Cliff $900,000 in legal fees, later suing the lawyer who represented him for malpractice — a case that was dismissed.
And if that wasn't barnacles enough, the village is set to hold elections Tuesday, with Mayor Elena Villafane running unopposed for the part-time seat — at least until Ehrlich declared himself a write-in candidate after his stunt.
Villafane, who was elected in 2021 after serving as a trustee for several years, had been participating in the meeting virtually and rushed over after being informed of Ehrlich's attempted takeover.
'At one point, he says to me, 'You're not the mayor anymore. I'm the mayor. And if you spend another cent, it'll be considered embezzlement,'' Villafane recounted to The Post Friday.
She said she offered to make a copy of his petition and submit it to the village clerk to be evaluated and processed.
'This chair says 'mayor,' not 'Elena Villafane,'' she explained.
'If people want to dissolve their government, they should be able to.'
Ehrlich, though, did not hand over a petition and seemed to be clutching some sort of 'manifesto' that contained all his ideas for his mayoralty, Villafane noted.
'He would not even let me touch the envelope,' she said, adding that he said, 'I'm not giving it to you, you're not the mayor.'
Villafane tried to calm Ehrlich down, and attempted to remind him that they had previously met.'You don't know me,' Ehrlich said. 'I said, 'You do know me, you've sued me.' He looked at me for the first time and he said, 'Oh, that's right you're antisemitic,'' Villafane recounted.
Most residents fully support Villafane, who was elected in 2021 after serving as a trustee for several years.
'I have lived in Sea Cliff for 53 years,' said Phil Como, a volunteer firefighter in the neighborhood. 'I would put her either No. 1 or No. 2 in the best mayor category.
'We have an excellent board, we provide excellent services, our budget is pretty tight, our taxes are fairly reasonable, we have good code enforcement and zoning — so I can't understand why would a man so successful chooses to hone in on a village that is run pretty superbly,' he continued.
Some villagers, however, see potential in Ehrlich's leadership and may consider writing him in despite the Sea Cliff's success under Villafane.
'I think he'd do a great job because he's proven himself in the field of business with Pirate's Booty, and he ran that like a tight ship,' Tim Ayres, a Sea Cliff resident, told News 12 on Thursday.
Ehrlich did not respond to repeated requests for comment, but he posted a video on the Sea Cliff Residents Facebook page.
'Whatever they're saying about me is wrong,' he proclaimed.
'What I stand for is outdoor seating and a day care center by the old water company that is sponsored by the village so parents can go to work and not worry about their children,' he continued.
'I have so many great ideas — I love Sea Cliff from the bottom of my heart, and I don't want this to go the wrong way,' Ehrlich said, insisting he has a big heart and is generous and urged residents to come meet him and see for themselves.
'I love Sea Cliff more than anybody. I've lived my life here.'
Ehrlich claims that he was empowered by the Citizen Empowerment Act, a little-known state law, to form what he called the new 'Incorporated Village of Sea Cliff Residents,' that he was now in charge of.
'Upon arrival, Ehrlich presented a statement falsely asserting his authority as mayor,'
after the confrontation.
'When informed that this claim was invalid and unsupported by law, he was asked to leave Village Hall at which point, Mr. Ehrlich and his associates became increasingly confrontational.'
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