New Jersey Land Grab Outlives the Casino It Was Supposed to Complement
“A few months ago, Damon Root noted a New Jersey eminent domain case in which the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) was seeking to condemn a home near the Atlantic City boardwalk so the property could be used as part of a “mixed use development project” intended to “complement the new Revel Casino and assist with the demands created by the resort.” Since then Revel has gone bankrupt, and the casino is scheduled to close at the beginning of September. The Institute for Justice, which represents the homeowner, Charlie Birnbaum, a piano tuner who inherited the house from his immigrant parents, reports that the CRDA is nevertheless pressing ahead with condemnation of the property, for reasons even vaguer than its original nebulous plan. “CRDA is not condemning Charlie’s property because CRDA needs it,” says I.J., “but because it thinks it can.” “
Sullum, Jacob. reason.com 25 August 2014.