New York's Lottery Drawing Could Change Your Life This Spring

If you're looking for a way to jazz up your spring in 2024, then the Mega Millions drawing this week might be just the thing you're looking for. Especially if you have a few extra dollars lying around, you could be in for a life-changing experience.

Many people across New York State dream of winning the lottery. The thought of winning free money can really have a positive impact on people's lives.

Since no one won the Mega Millions and Powerball Jackpots this past weekend, the current lottery total is over $1 billion between the two. The Mega Millions prize currently sits at $875 million, while the Powerball prize is holding steady at $600 million. The latest announcement from the New York State Lottery confirms that this week's contest is among the largest combined jackpots ever.

$1.52 billion is a lot of money. The cash option on the Powerball drawing is estimated to be $307.3 million, and $413.5 Million for the Mega Millions before taxes. That kind of money can change someone's life.

The Mega Millions is drawn every Tuesday and Friday in 45 states across America, in addition to Washington D.C. and the US Virgin Islands. The Powerball drawing is held at about 10:59 pm every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

I'm not much of a gambler. Whether it's the casino or the lottery, I generally don't participate in these activities. However, considering how much this jackpot has grown too and, well, you know the saying, you've got to be in it to win it, has me considering buying a few tickets for today's drawing. Just thinking about winning $1.5 Billion between the two excites me. I would love to order quite a few things in my Amazon cart. Plus, my sons and I could go on a great vacation or two, donate some money to charity, and many other things.

LOOK: The largest lottery jackpots in US history

Stacker compiled a list of the 15 largest lottery jackpots in U.S. history from news reports and lottery press releases. [This list is current as of July 25, 2023.]

Gallery Credit: Chandler Friedman

These Are the 12 Biggest Shopping Malls in Upstate New York

The size of the enclosed malls of Upstate New York covers a whole range of numbers. You have several large malls with between 50-100 stores, and then you have several behemoth malls which host much more than that. For example, #12 on this list has 55 stores and has been open for more than 50 years. Sounds like a pretty respectable mall, doesn't it? Compare that to the #2 on this list which is so large it has more than 18,000 parking spaces!

In this gallery, we have also mentioned some of the original anchor stores for these malls dating back to when they opened. It is fun to hear the old names like Sibley's, Filenes, McCurdy's, and G. Fox and Company again. Here are the 12 largest enclosed malls in Upstate New York. (We include all regions of Upstate including the upper and lower Hudson Valley. This list does not reflect the large malls of metropolitan New York City or Long Island).

Gallery Credit: Chuck D'Imperio