Community Corner

$1M Lottery Winner Returns to Putnam Valley Deli for Oversized Check

Steven Auth plans to put the money from his $1 million Powerball win—$661,800 after required withholdings—in investments for retirement, the Putnam Valley resident said Wednesday.

The 58-year-old was joined Wednesday by his wife Sandy at the Josan Putnam Valley Deli on Sunset Hill Drive, where he bought the ticket for the Aug. 7 drawing. He received an oversized check and told New York Lottery's Magen MacDavid how he choose the winning numbers [see attached video].

Sandy stayed up late that night and jotted down the numbers. After she realizing they matched the ticket her husband purchased, she started screaming "We won, we won!" 

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Steven woke up to those shrieks and the couple waited anxiously to find out how much they won. Just before 2 a.m. they learned it was $1 million.

"He's a hard-working, good, family man," said Nino Santucci, a Cortlandt Manor resident who owns the deli with his brother Domenico Santucci. Auth is a regular there.

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Although customers there have won smaller prizes—$25,000 and $100,000 in the past—Nino Santucci was "amazed" that the $1 million ticket came from the store he's owned for more than two decades.

For 2013, Steven is the state's 94th Lottery millionaire and Putnam County's first. The winning numbers for the Aug. 7 Powerball drawing were 05-25-30-58-59 and Powerball 32. 

In addition to planning for retirement, Auth may purchase some newer vehicles. He claimed his prize Aug. 13 at the Lottery’s Fishkill Customer Service Center.


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