"I hit the lottery when the Institute for Justice accepted my case.” "It would be better for the people of Atlantic City and for Charlie if CRDA would finally leave him alone." - Robert McNamara
“There’s such a sense of relief, appreciation and understanding that you never hear about 99.9 percent of the people that go through losing property like this because they can’t afford to fight," he continued. This has been a survival course, not a sprint but a marathon,” he said. “When I look at what’s left of this block, the single homes still standing, I look at this as part of being a survivor. He also said he considers himself lucky to have had the Institute for Justice to take up his case. What meant most to him was the fact that his family’s history in the 98-year-old home was included in the ruling, and not written “in legalese.” The peculiar situation led to the Birnbaum case being held up as an example of eminent-domain overreach by the Institute for Justice, a Virginia non-profit which represents Birnbaum.īirnbaum told PhillyVoice during a Friday afternoon phone interview that he’s “in celebration mode” over the news, despite the fact that CRDA could ultimately appeal the decision. The first-floor of Charles Birnbaum's Atlantic City home doubles as a base for his piano-tuning business and a shrine to a family steeped in tragedy. Birnbaum sued CRDA in Superior Court, claiming the authority had no right to take private property without specifically detailing its plans. The project itself stalled when the nearby Revel Casino declared bankruptcy in 2014, and remains unclear despite the Ocean Resort Casino opening on that property last summer. “We affirm, because the CRDA could not provide evidence-based assurances that the Project would proceed in the reasonably foreseeable future.” “Under these highly unusual circumstances, it was reasonable for the judge to question whether the Project would proceed in the foreseeable future when determining whether the proposed condemnation constituted a manifest abuse of the CRDA's condemnation authority,” reads Friday’s 29-page decision. It upheld Atlantic County Assignment Judge Julio Mendez’s decision preventing the agency from moving forward on the grounds that it had no explanation regarding what its plans for the site. Those emotions drove Birnbaum, who has been fighting the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority ( CRDA) since 2012 over the fate of his home.įriday brought the sort of welcomed news from the state Superior Court’s Appellate Division that could very well mean the battle has been won. Twitter tears down news that Trump will declare national emergency to build border wall.Atlantic City man fights to keep agency from demolishing his beloved family home.They're also saddled with heavy grief, since it’s the place where his 86-year-old mother, a Holocaust survivor, and her caretaker were beaten to death during a 1998 burglary. The memories are those of joy, as the three story, brick apartment building served as a safe haven for Birnbaum and his family. Late last year, we brought you the story of an Atlantic City man battling a government agency to save his home from an eminent-domain wrecking ball because of an undefined “ mixed-use project” in the resort city.Ĭharles Birnbaum’s ties to that Oriental Avenue property date back a half century.
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