Brooklyn Doorman Turned $5,000,000 Lottery Winner: “Now That's a Tip!”

SCHENECTADY, NY (06/11/2008)(readMedia)-- Forty-four-year-old Richard Randazzo of Graves End, Brooklyn, who counts on the tips he gets as a doorman at a Manhattan high-rise to help make ends meet, is the seventh New York Lottery millionaire from Brooklyn in six months.

The self-described “simple guy” said his tenants are pretty “fair” with their tips but he was thrilled when he scratched one of the New York Lottery’s Set For Life instant game scratch-off tickets to reveal a $5,000,000 winner. “Now that’s a tip,” said Randazzo.

“I was shocked, pure and simple. I’ve never come close to that kind of money before. It’s still unreal.”

Randazzo said he had to call his parents for a reality check before flying them in to help him celebrate with other family members and friends.

Randazzo is the second Lottery millionaire to purchase a winning jackpot prize from a Lottery retailer in Brooklyn’s Mill Basin neighborhood within nine days.

Randazzo is the seventh Lottery millionaire from Kings County this year. Colleen Losquadro purchased and claimed a $1,000,000 prize from a $5,000,000 Extravaganza instant game scratch off ticket on April 24th just blocks away from where Randazzo bought his Set For Life winner eight days later. Losquadro purchased her ticket at the Mill Basin Convenience Store in Brooklyn.

Other Brooklyn millionaires claiming some $21 million in prizes in 2008 include:

Oleg Soloviev- Lotto- $4,000,000- 2/1/2008 Valeriy Shuyeninov- $500M Extravaganza- $1,000,000- 2/13/2008 Dino Jafferacos- Lotto- $8,000,000- 3/6/2008 Nang Zan Tip- Cashtastic- $1,000,000- 3/12/2008 Zi Zhi Zhang- Bedazzled- $1,000,000- 4/8/2008 The newly minted millionaire said he plans to use some of the money to make some repairs to his “humble abode” and go fishing.

Randazzo purchased his lucky ticket on May 2, 2008 at the Mill Basin Mini Mart in Brooklyn. He claimed his $5,000,000 winner at the Lottery’s Manhattan Customer Service Center on May 12, 2008. He will receive quarterly payments of $65,000 each, less required tax withholdings. His quarterly net check will total $41,926.

The New York Lottery contributed nearly $2.6 billion to help support education in New York State on revenues of $7.549 billion in fiscal year 2007-08 - - a profit margin of 34.3%. Last year, the Lottery’s earnings accounted for over 13% of total state education funding. The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, earning over $34.2 billion in education support statewide since its founding over 40 years ago.

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