A $24 million New York Lotto ticket bought more than a year ago at a Tribeca grocery store was finally claimed on May 23 — just two days before the prize would have vanished. The winner, who has not been named, said news coverage of the expiring ticket is what pushed them to come forward.
A Year-Long Wait
The ticket was purchased on May 25, 2016, at Renu Corp Grocery and Tobacco, a small shop on the corner of Chambers Street and West Broadway. For nearly 12 months, nobody came forward. Lottery officials likely assumed the money would go unclaimed, as happens with a handful of big prizes every year.
Then, on May 23, 2017, the winner showed up. That gave them a two-day cushion before the May 25 deadline, the exact one-year anniversary of the purchase. New York law gives winners a full year to claim a prize, and after that, the money goes back into the state's education fund.
Prompted by the Headlines
The winner told lottery officials that they had been sitting on the ticket for months, apparently unaware of its value. It wasn't until local news started reporting that the deadline was approaching that they checked the numbers. The coverage worked — the ticket was redeemed with time to spare.
Neither the winner's name nor where they live has been released. New York Lottery policy allows winners to stay anonymous, though many choose to go public. The store, Renu Corp Grocery and Tobacco, will receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket, a standard incentive for retailers.
What the winner plans to do with the money is unknown. The prize will be paid out in a lump sum after taxes, which in New York means federal and state withholding. The exact take-home amount hasn't been disclosed.
The claim comes just over a week after the state's lottery commission reminded players to check old tickets, a routine notice that often surfaces as deadlines near. This time, it actually worked.
