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Putnam Residents Excited About $1.5B Powerball Jackpot

PUTNAM COUNTY, N.Y. -- Becoming a billionaire is as easy as spending $2 on a Powerball ticket.

The Powerball jackpot can only display three digits.

The Powerball jackpot can only display three digits.

 Photo Credit: Sam Barron
Lewis Stern holds up a Powerball ticket at Yorktown Wine and Liquors.

Lewis Stern holds up a Powerball ticket at Yorktown Wine and Liquors.

 Photo Credit: Sam Barron
Sam Barron

Poll
What would you do if you won the record Powerball jackpot?
Final Results Voting Closed

What would you do if you won the record Powerball jackpot?

  • Go on a long vacation
    13%
  • Buy a new house — or two
    19%
  • Buy a new car — or two
    3%
  • Start a business
    6%
  • Give it all away
    5%
  • Keep it a secret
    33%
  • It's too much money to even consider
    21%

The unprecedented $1.5 billion Powerball lottery will be drawn on Wednesday night at 10:59 p.m. The record jackpot swelled after Saturday's $900 million jackpot did not produce a winner.

Despite the long odds, Putnam residents are already thinking about how they would spend the money.

Lisa Kaslyn, a Carmel resident, said she was pulled in by the big jackpot.

The first thing I'd do - after an extended round-the-world vacation - would be to open a community pool in Putnam and see what we could do about expanding college-level and continuing education options in the county," Kaslyn said.

Dan Vera, a Putnam Valley resident, said he would pay off the mortgages of his adult children and give them each $1 million. College funds would be set up for his nine, soon to be 10, grandchildren as well as a $1 million trust fund they couldn't touch until they were 30 or married.

"I would keep my home in Putnam Valley and buy the 45 acres adjacent to my property and build a compound for my kids and grandkids to visit," Vera said. "I'd buy or build a home / in the Caribbean on a beach big enough for all my kids and grandkids to visit. I would totally enjoy the rest of my life with the love of my life."

Joanne Colangelo, a Mahopac resident, said she would use her money to help people.

"I don't need much so my lifestyle probably wouldn't change much," Colangelo said. "But you know I'd want to build an animal shelter or aid others in their quests to do the same. I would help the homeless. I would probably respond to every single gofundme page."

At Yorktown Wine and Liquors, Lewis Stern, said he had been seeing a lot of new people coming into his store to buy Powerball tickets. In front of Stern's store, an ad for Powerball only goes up to $999 million, because it is not equipped to display four digits.

"A lot of people don't know how to play," Stern, a Somers resident, said. "They can't believe how easy it is."

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