‘POWER’ OUTAGE: Powerball winner Pedro Quezada yesterday put his Passaic, NJ, bodega up for sale. (
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He’s hanging up his slicer.
The 44-year-old bodega owner who won a $338 million Powerball jackpot slapped a “For Sale” sign on his New Jersey store yesterday, opting to get an early start on his golden years.
Passaic father of five Pedro Quezada originally planned to keep the Apple Deli Grocery open, but his newfound fame has attracted too much unwanted attention to stay in the public eye.
“He said he couldn’t stay here,” barber Jeffrey Brito, a family friend, told The Post. “He said, ‘No, bro. I gotta get outta here because of the media.’ ”
Others in the neighborhood agreed that Quezada should close the store because of the threat of crime.
“I think it brings about some perils and dangers, especially in a poor neighborhood like this,” said Juan Rengifo, 47, another customer of the store.
Carlos Quezada, 38, Pedro’s brother, said the hard-working immigrant is ready for easy street.
“He won the lottery. He doesn’t want to work,” Carlos said. “He’s planning to travel and have fun in life. He wants to enjoy the money. I think with all that money, you shouldn’t have to wake up and work. Would you stay out here?”
Quezada’s son Casiano told his barber that he had to get a new cellphone because his old number was being inundated with calls.
Casiano opened the store early yesterday and began stocking shelves, but shut it down when a CNN crew clogged the narrow aisles.