Two Westchester Residents Celebrate $73M Lottery Winnings

The New York Lottery’s Yolanda Vega presented over-sized prize checks worth a collective $73 million to two Lottery players from Westchester County on Thursday.

The day’s first winner, from Hartsdale, claimed the sole jackpot-winning ticket for the $70 million Powerball drawing of Feb. 25. The Lottery retailer who sold the winning jackpot ticket also received a $10,000 retailer bonus check.

Vega awarded a second over-sized prize check to a New Rochelle retiree who won $3 million on the Triple Million scratch-off game.  The check presentations took place at the Dairydel grocery and deli on South Central Avenue in Hartsdale where the winning Powerball ticket was sold.

Hartsdale Powerball winner steps forward to receive $70,000,000 jackpot prize

Tara Ramirez of Hartsdale received a $70 million Powerball prize check on behalf of the Case Park, LLC, a limited liability company she created following the Feb. 25 Powerball drawing that made her a Lottery millionaire overnight. The 37-year-old Ramirez is the company’s sole member and benefactor.

The jackpot-prize winning ticket was purchased on Feb. 24 at the Dairydel grocery and deli on South Central Avenue in Hartsdale. For its role in selling the top-prize winner, Dairydel will receive a one-time $10,000 selling bonus.  A similar bonus is available to any New York Lottery retailer that sells a jackpot-winning ticket for a Lotto, Mega Millions or Powerball drawing. 

On behalf of Case Park, LLC, Ramirez opted to receive the jackpot in one lump sum payment totaling $43,668,122 (net $28,899,563). When asked about plans for the money Ramirez said,  “It will mean financial security for me and my family for many years to come.”

Trip for bread nets New Rochelle retiree $3M Lottery scratch-off prize

Sixty-year-old retired sanitation worker Robert Rice of New Rochelle has a loaf of bread to thank for his recent Lottery windfall. The father of two won the last $3 million top prize on the Triple Million scratch-off game. He bought his ticket during a quick stop into a neighborhood store to pick up a last minute item.

“I needed a loaf of potato bread and came out with a ticket too,” said the new scratch-off millionaire of his “surreal” change of fortune. “I didn’t realize what I had until later on when I scratched it at home. My heart started racing. I told my wife and she started screaming. I had to tell her ‘please, stop screaming!’”

Rice purchased his winning scratch-off ticket on March 5 at United Deli on North Avenue in New Rochelle. “It’s one of the three stores I go to regularly to buy tickets,” he said. Rice claimed his prize on March 8 at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Manhattan.

The top prize on the Triple Million scratch-off game is paid as $150,000 a year for 20 years. Rice will receive a net check totaling $99,270 a year through 2031. The Triple Million game has since been retired and replaced with another $10 offering.

As for his plans for the money, Rice said his family will come first, but a trip to Hawaii may be a close second.

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing over $3 billion in fiscal year 2010-2011 to help support education in New York State.  The Lottery’s aid represents over 15 percent of total state education funding to local school districts. 

Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education.  It takes into account both a school district’s size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.