{"id":95379,"date":"2019-01-02T12:23:38","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T20:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=95379"},"modified":"2019-01-02T12:23:38","modified_gmt":"2019-01-02T20:23:38","slug":"long-islander-wins-254-6-million-mega-millions-lottery-jackpot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/long-islander-wins-254-6-million-mega-millions-lottery-jackpot\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery Long Islander Wins $254.6 Million Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot on New Year\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

One lucky Mega Millions<\/a> player in Long Island, New York kicked off 2019 with a bang when they became the eighth-biggest winner in the draw\u2019s history, scooping a $254.6 million prize on New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

\"Mega
The identity of the eighth biggest Mega Millions prize in history remains unknown, but it’s likely that they hail from one of America\u2019s most affluent neighborhoods, Oyster Bay on Long Island. (Image: Click2Houston)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lottery officials confirmed Tuesday that a single winning ticket had been sold at Brookville Auto Service in the town of Oyster Bay.<\/p>\n

The winner has yet to come forward, which means one of four things: they don\u2019t yet realize they\u2019ve won; they\u2019re turning their house upside down; they\u2019re catatonic with shock, murmuring something about \u201cthe lottery curse\u201d; or they\u2019re busy consulting a team of lawyers and reputable financial planners.<\/p>\n

Already Rich? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

When USA TODAY descended on Brookville Auto Service, owner Jay Huang was unable to provide any clues about the identity of the mystery winner. He said he just hoped the money would go to someone who really needed it.<\/p>\n

Unlikely. Oyster Bay has been listed by Forbes as America\u2019s fifth most affluent neighborhood, with a median household income of nearly $250,000.<\/p>\n

Huang — who will receive $10,000 as the seller of the ticket and is planning to use the money for a family vacation — noted hopefully that he also serves quite a few blue-collar workers passing through town, so there\u2019s hope.<\/p>\n

\n

For now, the winner remains a mystery, although it\u2019s not unusual for a lottery winner to delay claiming their prize as they get their ducks in a row, such is the life-changing impact of a win of this size. In fact, the world-record-breaking $1.537 billion<\/a> Mega Millions winner of October 23 from South Carolina has also yet to claim the prize.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Rules differ from state to state about how long a winner has to come forward. In New York, it\u2019s a year, but in South Carolina it\u2019s only 180 days, which means America\u2019s newest billionaire-to-be had better get their skates on, as it\u2019s already 71 days and counting.<\/p>\n

$116 Million Tax Bill<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Should the Oyster Bay winner make themselves known, they will either claim a one-off cash payment of $254 million or the full amount divided into 30 annual payments over the next 29 years. That\u2019s before taxes, of course.<\/p>\n

If the winner chooses to receive the lump sum — and most do — lottery officials will automatically withhold 24 percent ($61.1 million) for the feds. But with the top federal tax rate at 37 percent, the winner will have to pay a further $33 million on top of that.<\/p>\n

The State of New York will then take 8.8 percent, or another $22.5 million, leaving our mystery Long Islander with around $137 million.<\/p>\n

Jason Kurland is a partner at Rivkin Radler, a law firm that helps new lottery winners negotiate the pitfalls of their newfound wealth.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the numbers involved in these huge jackpots are staggering, and the taxes are no exception,\u201d he told CNBC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One lucky Mega Millions player in Long Island, New York kicked off 2019 with a bang when they became the eighth-biggest winner in the draw\u2019s history, scooping a $254.6 million prize on New Year\u2019s Day. Lottery officials confirmed Tuesday that a single winning ticket had been sold at Brookville Auto Service in the town of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":95381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13699],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLong Islander Wins $254.6 Million Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"$254.6 Million Mega Millions Lottery winner has yet to come forward, but lottery officials say ticket was sold in the town of Oyster Bay, Long Island.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Long Islander Wins $254.6 Million Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"$254.6 Million Mega Millions Lottery winner has yet to come forward, but lottery officials say ticket was sold in the town of Oyster Bay, Long Island.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/long-islander-wins-254-6-million-mega-millions-lottery-jackpot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-02T20:23:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/mega-millions.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/long-islander-wins-254-6-million-mega-millions-lottery-jackpot\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/long-islander-wins-254-6-million-mega-millions-lottery-jackpot\/\",\"name\":\"Long Islander Wins $254.6 Million Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/long-islander-wins-254-6-million-mega-millions-lottery-jackpot\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/long-islander-wins-254-6-million-mega-millions-lottery-jackpot\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/mega-millions.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-02T20:23:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-02T20:23:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"$254.6 Million Mega Millions Lottery winner has yet to come forward, but lottery officials say ticket was sold in the town of Oyster Bay, Long Island.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/long-islander-wins-254-6-million-mega-millions-lottery-jackpot\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/long-islander-wins-254-6-million-mega-millions-lottery-jackpot\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/long-islander-wins-254-6-million-mega-millions-lottery-jackpot\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/mega-millions.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/mega-millions.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"The identity of the eighth biggest Mega Millions in history remains unknown, but its likely that they hail from one of America\u2019s most affluent neighborhoods, Oyster Bay on Long Island. 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