A Change of Season Brings A Change of Luck for Five New Lottery Millionaires

SCHENECTADY, NY (09/24/2009)(readMedia)-- New York Lottery Drawing Emcee Gretchen Dizer today introduced the New York Lottery's newest harvest of Lottery Millionaires in the Fall Room of the New York Botanical Garden. The five new winners won their millions from a variety of instant games and televised drawings.

Quick Pick is the Ticket for Manhattan Bookkeeper Turned $13,000,000 Lotto Jackpot Winner

Diane Gonzalez, 52, of Manhattan has a knack for numbers, but she's not opposed to letting her husband, Edwin, pick the couple's Lotto numbers every now and then. That was the case when Gonzalez, a bookkeeper at a Manhattan-based law firm, and her husband, a stay-at-home-dad, stopped by the store where they regularly buy their Lottery tickets, Columbus Avenue Stationery, to purchase a ticket for the August 29th Lotto drawing for a jackpot worth $13,000,000. Edwin spent $2 for four sets of Quick Pick numbers generated randomly by the Lottery terminal.

"I didn't look at the ticket again until a couple of days after the drawing," said Edwin Gonzalez. "I tried calling Diane several times at work, but I couldn't reach her. Finally, her curiosity got the best of her and she came home to check the ticket herself."

"I cried when I saw the ticket," said Diane Gonzalez. "There are no words. It just feels good to know that life will be easier."

The couple who, at the time of purchase, opted to receive the $13,000,000 jackpot in one lump sum, will receive their prize through a trust they set up to fund their son's continued education and their own future.

"I plan to continue working," said Gonzalez. "I also plan to see my son graduate from college. That's been our plan all along."

The Gonzalez' claimed their $13,000,000 winning Lotto ticket at the Lottery's Manhattan Customer Service Center on September 10, 2009. At the couple's request, the Lottery will award the Trust with a one-time lump sum payment totaling $7,340,528, before required tax withholdings, to the DEG Family Distribution Trust. The net amount to be paid to the trust will total $4,846,591.

Newspaper Run Turns Average Day into $5,000,000 Payday for Queens Store Owner

Good luck struck early in the day for Korean-born Woon-Sook Chon of Flushing, Queens. The 49-year-old owner of the Flushing-based Cherry Blossom food store stopped in to buy a Korean newspaper at the Union Deli Grocery on 38th Street, and walked out with her paper and a $500,000,000 Extravaganza instant Lottery ticket worth $5,000,000.

"My niece told me of a dream she had the night before," said Chon. "In this dream, I was rich," she continued. "I decided it was a good day to try my luck."

Chon said she scratched her $500,000,000 Extravaganza ticket in her car while her niece, June, watched from the passenger seat. The two women screamed when Chon scratched the last row of numbers on her ticket to reveal a matching number worth $5,000,000.

"This is my American dream come true," said Chon. "You never know; dreams do come true."

Like the Gonzalez's, Chon claimed her ticket at the Lottery's offices in Manhattan. She will receive her $5,000,000 prize in 20 annual payments of $250,000 each, before taxes. Her annual net check will total $155,955.

Chon and her husband, John, plan to use their new fortune to invest in property in New York City.

Being at the Right Place at the Right Time Pays off for Queens School Counselor; $3,000,000 winner

"My husband and I went into the deli for coffee. We didn't plan to buy Lottery tickets," said New York City School Counselor Roberta Andreoli. "But then we got up to the counter and decided to buy one of these (tickets) and one of those (tickets). We sat down to drink the coffee and the next thing we know, we're both shaking because we can't believe we won $3,000,000!"

The Andreolis of Hollis Hills, Queens claimed the last top prize available on the Lottery's now retired Stacks of Cash instant game on September 8, 2009 at the Lottery Customer Service Center in Manhattan. Andreoli said she credits her good fortune to "being at the right place at the right time."

Andreoli and her husband, Robert, purchased their $3,000,000 winning Stacks of Cash ticket on September 4, 2009 at the A K Deli on Union Turnpike in Flushing. Roberta Andreoli claimed the ticket on the couple's behalf on September 8.

"We kept it in a safe over the long Labor Day weekend," she explained. "We kept taking it out over the weekend to look at it, just to make sure it was real."

As is the case with most New York Lottery instant games, the top prize on the Stacks of Cash instant ticket is paid as an annuity. Roberta Andreoli will receive 20 annual payments of $150,000 each before taxes. She will receive an annual net check totaling $93,573 through 2028.

The couple plans to use their windfall to pay off their children's college loans, take a nice family vacation, and donate to charity.

Winning a Million "Pretty Cool" for Bronx Cable TV System Manager

What's better than winning $5,000 on a Lottery instant game? Learning the ticket you thought was a $5,000 winner is actually worth $1,000,000! That's what happened to 42-year-old Tomasita "Tommi" Santiago of the Bronx when she tried to cash her winning $1,000,000 Cashword instant ticket at the Lottery's Customer Service Center at the Empire City Casino in Yonkers on August 22, 2009.

"They told me I had a $1,000,000 winner, not a $5,000 winner like I thought," said Santiago, a 21-year veteran of the Bronx's Cablevision system. "That changed everything for me. I waited a few more days to claim the $1,000,000 prize because I had to figure out what I wanted to do with that much money."

The grandmother of two said she ultimately decided to "put the money in the bank for now." Future plans may include purchasing a new home where she can enjoy her growing family.

The top prize on the Lottery's $1,000,000 Cashword game is paid in one lump sum. Santiago's one-time net payment will total $623,820.

Santiago purchased her winning ticket at the Simpson Deli & Grocery on Westchester Ave. in the Bronx. She successfully claimed her $1,000,000 prize at the Lottery's New York City Customer Service Center on August 27, 2009.

No Poker Face for Bronx $1,000,000 New York Poker Winner: "I Fell to My Knees and Cried"

Enrique Rosa of the Bronx's Pelham Bay area likes poker.

"I like watching it on TV and playing it with friends," said the 34-year-old Fire Safety Director who is also in school to become an NYPD Traffic Agent. "I guess that's why it's the one Lottery game I tend to buy the most."

Rosa said he used the prize money he won on another New York Poker ticket to purchase his $1,000,000 winning ticket of the same name. "I stood there in shock," he said. "Then I fell to my knees and cried, right there in the store, I cried."

The new father said winning the $1,000,000 will change his infant son's life forever. "This is a life changer for sure," said Rosa. "We can plan for the future knowing that we're that much ahead. What a difference that makes."

Rosa and his wife, Michele, an assistant bank manager, plan to invest their prize money and save for their son's education.

Rosa purchased his $1,000,000 winning New York Poker instant ticket on August 31, 2009 at Abraham's Middletown Wines on Middletown Road in the Bronx. He claimed it the same day at the Lottery's offices in Manhattan.

Rosa will receive his prize in 20 annual payments of $50,000 each, less required tax withholdings. His annual net check will total $31,191.

The New York Lottery continues to be North America's largest and most profitable Lottery, earning more than $36.7 billion in education support statewide since its founding over 40 years ago. The Lottery contributed nearly $2.54 billion in fiscal year 2008-9 to help support education in New York State, which was over 12 percent of total state education funding to local school districts. The Lottery's ongoing commitment to education also includes the awarding of more than 1,100 Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) Scholarships annually to high school students pursuing their higher education in New York State. Since 1999, the Lottery has awarded more than 11,500 scholarships representing a total commitment of almost $50 million.

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