What Would $1.7 Billion Look Like in Utica?

Saturday night’s Powerball jackpot is $1.7 billion. That’s billion with a “B”. The kind of money that makes your head spin just trying to picture it. And while everyone else daydreams about private islands and Lamborghinis, let’s keep it real: if someone in Central New York wins, the first stop is going to be a local bakery, a plate of chicken riggies, and a cold Utica Club.

Riggies for Days

Utica’s favorite pasta dish costs about $18 a plate. With $1.7 billion, you could order about 94 million plates of chicken riggies. That’s enough to feed all of Central New York multiple times, and still have leftovers for the freezer. (Though let’s be honest, riggies never make it to the freezer.)

Halfmoon Heaven

You could buy millions of halfmoons. You’d officially be the Willy Wonka of Central New York.

Utica Club on Tap Forever

At $7 a six-pack, you’re looking at 243 million six-packs of UC. Or roughly 1.46 billion beers. Honestly, you’d basically be sponsoring your own permanent St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Meatballs and Greens Galore

Chicken riggies might steal the spotlight, but don’t forget Utica’s other icons. Order up plates of Italian greens (around $12 each) and you could snag 141 million orders. For meatballs... let’s say $3 apiece. You could buy 566 million meatballs. That’s more than enough to build a meatball pyramid taller than the Stanley Theatre.

Private Hockey Team at the Aud

With $1.7 billion, you could buy the Utica Comets (valued around $25 million) more than 60 times over. Imagine renaming the Adirondack Bank Center the “Chicken Riggies Arena.” Season tickets for life? Done. Players wearing jerseys with halfmoons instead of numbers? Why not.

Buy Out Destiny USA (and Still Have Money Left)

Destiny USA in Syracuse has been valued around $700 million. You could buy the whole mall twice—and still have change for decades of Auntie Anne’s pretzels and carousel rides.

Snowblowers for Everyone

Central New York winters don’t mess around. Average snowblower? About $1,000. You could buy 1.7 million snowblowers, basically one for every household in the region. Forget shoveling, you’d go down as a local legend every time it snowed.

Gas Money at Cliff’s Local Market

And then you could drive the New York State Thruway from Buffalo to Albany 200 million times.

Adirondack Hideaway

You could scoop up a luxury lake house on Fourth Lake for around $2 million. With this jackpot, you could buy 850 Adirondack camps, and still have money left for boats, jet skis, and s’mores supplies.

Because, Pizza

And finally, pizza. At $20 a pie, $1.7 billion gets you 85 million pizzas. That’s enough pizza to make sure every single riggie-loving soul in CNY never goes hungry.

Dream Big, CNY

Odds of winning? Slim. 1 in 292.2 million, to be exact. But if Saturday night’s winner is from Central New York, just promise the rest of us a slice of pizza, a cookie, a riggie, and a cold Utica Club. Deal?