Schenectady, NY – The New York Lottery today celebrated the arrival of spring with $17,000,000 in prize checks for three new “locally grown” Lottery Millionaires – two from Queens County and a third from the Bronx. The Lottery presented the checks among the cherry blossoms and other blooms surrounding the Visitor and Administration Center at the Queens Botanical Garden. The Garden, recognized by many as New York City’s most advanced green building, is known for its mission to teach and practice sustainability as a means to achieve long-term financial stability.
The Lottery first presented a $14,000,000 prize check to Michael Perez of St. Albans, Queens. The 51-year-old former warehouse supervisor purchased the sole winning ticket for the Lotto drawing held on April 2, 2008. Perez purchased his winning Quick Pick ticket on April 1, 2008 at the Prince Supermarket on Linden Boulevard in St. Albans.
“I don’t play often,” Perez said. “But, it was April Fools’ Day and I played to see what would happen. I didn’t expect this.”
He claimed his winning ticket worth $14,000,000 on April 9th at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Garden City. Perez, who describes himself as a “homebody,” was recently laid off from his job as a warehouse supervisor for Southern Wine and Spirits in Syosset. He and his wife, Tracey, a receptionist at the Aids Center of Queens County, plan to use their windfall to “move out of (his) mother’s basement apartment and into the home of (their) dreams.”
Perez opted to receive his $14,000,000 prize as a lump sum. He will receive his prize in a single payment of $7,833,361, less required tax withholdings ($5,052,675 after taxes).
Quiet and reserved Chong Bang Kim, 52, of Elmhurst, Queens, said he jumped for joy when he and his wife, Chan Hee, realized they won $1,000,000 on the $500,000,000 Extravaganza instant game. The “average guy” father of two credits his good fortune with a routine trip for groceries to stock the kitchen of the undisclosed Korean restaurant he owns with Chan Hee.
“It was pure luck,” Kim said as interpreted by his son, Yoon. “My luck has not been too good - until now.”
Kim purchased his $1,000,000 winner on March 12, 2008 at the Asian Food Market on South Ave. in Staten Island. He waited until his son, Yoon, was available on April 4 to claim his ticket at the Lottery’s Garden City Customer Service Center.
Kim will receive his $1,000,000 prize in payments of $50,000 a year for $20 years, less required tax withholdings. His net check will total $32,251.
Forty-four-year-old Ruben Martinez of Pelham Bay, Bronx spent $2 on a Win $2,000 A Week For Life instant ticket back in October of 2007. The owner of the Bronx-based Columbia Towing Company said he bought the ticket, put it in his pocket, and forgot about it until April 1, 2008. That’s when he scratched it and learned it was worth at least $2,000,000.
“I’ve been walking around with this ticket in my pocket for the past seven months,” said Martinez. I almost threw it out! Can you imagine?”
The father of three said the timing of his $2,000,000 windfall made it hard for him to convince his family this wasn’t an April Fools’ prank.
“I told my family on April 1st – April Fools’ Day. They had a hard time believing it was true.”
Martinez purchased his Win $2,000 A Week For Life ticket at the Stop & Go Store located inside the Pelham Train Station in Pelham. The $2 ticket guarantees a minimum prize payout of $2,000,000 to be paid quarterly for life. Martinez will receive an initial payment of $38,000, less required tax withholdings. His net check will total $24,511. Subsequent checks will total $26,000, less required tax withholdings or $16,771 after taxes.
