NEW YORK (PIX11) -- New Yorkers are eyeing not one but two massive lottery jackpots.
The Mega Millions jackpot is an estimated $735 million, and Powerball is an estimated $559 million.
When you ask most New Yorkers what they’d buy if they won either jackpot, the answers are typically straightforward—a car, a house, or helping family.
For Michael Figueroa of Queens, the answer is a bit more nuanced and philanthropic.
“[I’d] buy the block, just one of the blocks around here where I like the people,” said Figueroa. “[I’d] refurbish the buildings, make everything nice and neat, take care of all the old people. I would probably do something about the problem with the rodents in the area, too. Figure something out with that.”
The chances of winning one of the jackpots are roughly one in 300 million. The odds of hitting both are one in 75.6 quadrillion. You are statistically more likely to have a perfect March Madness bracket, which has never been accomplished.
But the odds are a bit beside the point for those who play.
“I think, especially when it gets big, you’re buying a little bit of the dream, right?” said Jacob Piatek. “Of like, the opportunity that I can have this outsized impact on so many people in my lives and so many people around me.”
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