Mega Millions $1.28B lottery jackpot is 'breaking' NYC signs
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Tonight’s lottery jackpot isn’t just mind blowing — it blowing out the lottery’s signs.
The $1.28 billion Mega Millions prize is so high, it’s causing a glitch in electronic store lottery displays that weren’t programmed to go beyond $999 million at stores everywhere they sell the tickets.
Shops have been forced to tout an undersized jackpot because the signs only have slots for three digits — with the word “millions” printed below adding furhter confusion, workers and customers said.
“They didn’t expect it to get that high,” said Anthony Williams, a 60-year-old janitor, who bought a ticket at the Gardenia Deli in Manhattan. “They didn’t build a [sign] for that.”
An official Mega Millions sign at the deli, on 30th Street and Eighth Avenue, read $999 million on Friday afternoon after the prize soared to a billion earlier this week.
The same style of display was also up at the nearby 99 Cent Discount store, where a manager said the digit-centric dilemma hasn’t stopped shoppers from snapping up tickets.
“It’s not a big deal because as soon as the price goes up to like $700 or 800 million, they really don’t care because it’s already a lot,” said Na Lin, 32, who manages the store on Eighth Avenue near 28th Street.
Over the past two days, the store has been “crazy busy” with “long lines” of folks hoping to strike it rich, in part because the store sold a winning ticket for $100,000 in January 2020, she said.
“Everyday we sell like about $7000 [in tickets],” she said. “The neighbors say here is a very lucky store to come play”
Other incorrect $999 million Mega Millions signs were also spotted in New Jersey,California and Arizona.
The lucky winner of Friday’s 11 p.m. drawing would get the $1.28 billion over the course of 29 years, or a lump sum of $747.2 million, which ends up being $457.5 million after taxes.
