The lump-sum cash value of the $1.5 billion Powerball has now reached $930 million. Here are some New York City-centric options on how the winner can spend the cash — from staying at the Plaza Hotel more than 236,000 times to buying hundreds of subway cars or scooping up the priciest listings on StreetEasy.
1) It’s hard to imagine luxury in New York City without thinking of the iconic Plaza Hotel near the entrance to Central Park. The Vanderbilt, a two-bedroom suite, debuted last June at about $3,672 a night. It includes views of Fifth Avenue and the original Vanderbilt Mansion, 1,500 square feet of space, in-room iPads to control the lighting and temperature, marble mosaic tile and butler services. Powerball winners could pay for 253,220 nights there — the equivalent of almost 700 years!
2) A private helicopter tour of Manhattan, including the Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center, from Liberty Helicopter, costs $1,500 a pop. The tour will also take you around the Brooklyn Bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Yankee Stadium, Central Park and the Empire State Building. Winners could take a staggering 620,000 helicopter trips.
3) The Ty Warner penthouse at the Four Season Hill, on East 57th Street, has been reported to be the most expensive hotel room in New York City, at $50,000 a night. It has floor-to-ceiling windows, glass balconies and a 22-karat gold bedspread.
4) You always complain about your commute– here’s your chance to become the next rail tycoon, like August Belmont, who built the Lexington Avenue line. Belmont had his own private subway car with a bar, mahogany drapes and a reclining couch. You can be a hero to your fellow riders and purchase 295 subway cars, which cost $3.14 million a car, according to MTA documents.
5) The Powerball winner won’t be able to afford a subway station (the new 7 train station near Hudson Yards cost a steep $2.4 billion), but you can take your lottery winnings and buy four new Metro-North stations in the Bronx and upgrade its tracks in Manhattan to bring the railroad to Penn Station. You would even have money left over if the project stays on budget.“If someone wants to donate their lottery winnings toward benefiting New York’s public transportation system, we’re more than happy to set up a legal mechanism to allow it to happen,” said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan. “In fact, it would be tax deductible.”
6) Feeling carnivorous? If the average hot dog in New York City costs $2.50 each, the lottery haul is enough to buy 372 million dogs. That’s enough to buy every New York City resident almost 41 dogs.
7) You can buy 10 of the most expensive properties for sale in New York City on Street Easy for $806.5 million, and still have more than a $100 million left over. They include a 25-room luxury condo in the Atelier on the Far West Side, which costs $85 million. The condo, which has 13 bathrooms, includes a $1 million yacht and two Rolls Royce Phantoms with the purchase. The building includes a pilates studio, golf driving range, large swimming pool and sauna.
8) Want to own a basketball team, or an arena? The Brooklyn Nets were recently valued at $875 million, while their home, Brooklyn’s Barclay Center, was valued at $825 million by Forbes. The average NBA team is valued at $1.1 billion.
