By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Eighteen World Trade Center workers are splitting a $250,000 lottery prize after a second-place Mega Millions win last month, the New York Lottery announced this week.
The workers, who have been playing the lottery together for seven years, netted the cash with a Quick Pick ticket that had five out of six numbers correct.
"We feel very fortunate to have won," John Kennedy, 47, a carpenter from Queens, said in a statement. "We all feel this sense of camaraderie."
Kennedy said he and the 17 other workers plan to use their share to pay bills, add to their savings, go on vacation and keep buying lottery tickets.
The group was just one digit shy of winning the $168 million grand prize, the New York Daily News reported.
After taxes, each worker received just over $9,000, the News reported.
The odds of wining the second-place prize, as the group of workers did, was 1 in 3,904,701, according to the New York Lottery.
