ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Poetry's been sent packing from Atlantic City's summer entertainment offerings after complaints that it would be a waste of money.

The Showboat Casino Hotel, left, and the Revel Casino Hotel along the Boardwalk in Atlantic City
The Showboat Casino Hotel, left, and the Revel Casino Hotel along the Boardwalk in Atlantic City (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)
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The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority had planned to pay for readings as entertainment alongside music at a farmers market it sponsors.

But three lawmakers called the readings the "height of absurdity" as a way to attract people to the struggling resort city.

CRDA Executive Director John Palmieri tells The Press of Atlantic City that he's calling them off. He says "poetry is not a bad thing," but that maybe someone other than his agency should subsidize it.

The authority is funded by a tax on the city's casinos.

Four casinos closed last year and 8,000 workers lost their jobs.

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