Bodnar’s Auction owner Joseph Bodnar told New Jersey news outlets that the property’s owner, Carl Icahn, was unaware of the auction house’s fundraiser to solicit donations to blow up the former casino. Money raised from the charity was to go to a youth charity.
Icahn is a billionaire and Donald Trump supporter. The Associated Press reports that he sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bodnar’s Auction.
Icahn committed to donate $175,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City to make up for the lost donations.
Icahn’s business, Icahn Enterprises, also cited safety concerns for canceling the fundraiser.
“From the beginning, we thought the auction and any other related spectacle presented a safety risk, and we were always clear that we would not participate in any way,” said an Icahn spokesman.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small had been supportive of the fundraising, stating it would raise approximately $1m for the city’s Boys and Girls Club.
“That’s a lot of money that could have changed the lives of a lot of children in the town, and it’s just a shame all the way around that it couldn’t get together,” Bodnar told New Jersey Advance Media.
Donald Trump opened the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino in 1984. The casino remained in operation for three decades but gradually fell into despair in its later years.
The property is still expected to be imploded sometime in February, Mayor Small said.
