102K signatures for man trying to save home

An Atlantic City piano tuner whose family home is set to be taken by the state has delivered an online petition with more than 100,000 signatures to Gov. Chris Christie.

Charlie Birnbaum’s Change.org petition to stop the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority’s plan to take the house, which overlooks a large swath of vacant land.

Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez ruled last month that the state agency can use eminent domain to seize the house in the shadow of the closed Revel Casino Hotel. He cites an “appropriate public purpose” for the property. Birnbaum has asked Mendez to reconsider.

The 67-year-old Birnbaum doesn’t live in the three-story brick house on Oriental Avenue, but he is there often. He uses the first floor for his piano-tuning business and rents the top two floors to tenants.