Lotto Fever Hits the Hudson Valley

When Johnny Lee arrived at his store, Bronxville Stationers on Pondfield Rd at 6 a.m., he knew today was not going to be a typical Wednesday morning.

"There were people waiting before we opened," explained Lee, "many people are playing lotto, even those who have never played before."

The Powerball Jackpot has risen to a whopping $500 million and that has seemed to bring many out to the stores across the Hudson Valley to try their luck at becoming the lotto's newest millionaire.

"I always give my tickets a kiss before I check my numbers," shared Yonkers resident Camile DePaula, who was purchasing tickets not only for herself but for her co-workers as well.

"We hardly ever play as a group but with this jackpot, there will be plenty to go around if just one of us wins," said DePaula.

Martin Craparo says that he has only played the Powerball one other time in his life and the Tuckahoe resident likes his chances of winning this time.

"I just retired from my job in Manhattan this month so this would be perfect to win the lotto and retire happy," joked Craparo who continued that, "I usually would think that it is a losing bet to play but I'll give $10 to win $500 million."

So did you play Lotto today, perhaps for the first time because of the dream of $500 million?