ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) – Poetry has been sent packing from Atlantic City’s summer entertainment offerings after complaints it would be a waste of money.
New Jersey’s 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.
Authority Executive Director John Palmieri tells The Press of Atlantic City (http://bit.ly/1JuonLu ) he’s calling off the readings. He says “poetry is not a bad thing” but maybe someone other than his agency should subsidize it.
The authority is funded by a tax on the city’s casinos.
Four of the city’s 12 casinos closed last year, and 8,000 workers lost their jobs. Three other casinos are in bankruptcy.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
