­Frank Rivera and Laura Rivers-Sachs, $15.8 Million Lotto Prize

Frank Rivera of Suffern plays New York Lottery draw games and scratch-off games all the time, and his persistence finally paid off with a $15.8 million win from the November 5, 2016 Lotto drawing.

Rivera is retired from the New York State Department of Correctional Services and decided to share his Lotto win with his daughter, Laura Rivera-Sachs, who works as a business analyst with a manufacturing company in New Jersey.

On the day of the drawing, November 5, 2016, Rivera went to the Drug Mart Tallman store on Route 59 in Suffern to buy his Lottery tickets. That evening Rivera checked his Lotto ticket on the Lottery’s website.

“I didn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said. “I just kept checking the ticket over and over again because I was in disbelief.”

Then he waited for his daughter, Laura, to come home and asked her to check the ticket. Rivera-Sachs said, “At first I didn’t believe my Dad, but then I checked the numbers multiple times, and looked at where the winning ticket was purchased, and then I started to believe it was true.”

The lucky winners came to the Lottery’s Fishkill Customer Service Center on December 23, 2016 to claim their Lotto prize. They have chosen to receive their prize as a one-time lump sum payment, and each of them will receive $3,766,686 after required withholdings.

When asked how it feels to be a new Lottery millionaire, Rivera said, “It feels wonderful! I always wanted to be able to do things for my family, and now I’m able to.” Rivera-Sachs said, “It feels terrific! This win provides a real sense of security and peace of mind for the future.”

In addition to helping his family, Rivera said his plans for the money include buying a new car. Rivera-Sachs said she wants to save for the future and maybe take a family vacation with part of her winnings.

Ellis Gitlin, $6.5 Million Lotto Prize

Ellis Gitlin of New City is another frequent New York Lottery player. Gitlin, Director of Sales for an instrument manufacturer, said, “I play Lottery games every week. Sometimes I play Mega Millions, but I always buy the Lotto game.”

On December 29, Gitlin was running some errands and decided to buy a Lotto ticket for the December 31 drawing.

“It was a few days before New Year’s Eve and I was out picking up my dry cleaning and getting a haircut. So I stopped into a store that I go to sometimes and got my Lotto ticket,” he said.

On the morning of January 2, 2017, Gitlin was back at the same store where he bought his ticket, the Dollar Store at 20 North Main Street in New City, and he scanned his ticket. “The display said ‘Big Winner,’ and I wasn’t sure what that meant, so I handed the ticket to the clerk to check it. I asked him to print out the numbers for me and that’s when he told me that I hit the big one. I was in complete disbelief. I guess anybody can win the Lottery,” Gitlin said.

After leaving the store, Gitlin called his wife, “I told her I just won $6.5 million. She didn’t believe me at first and asked me where I was, and then I told her I would come home right away.”

Gitlin came to the Lottery’s Manhattan Customer Service Center on January 4 to claim his Lotto prize. He has chosen to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum payment and will receive $2,825,815 after required withholdings.

When asked how it feels to win a Lotto jackpot Gitlin said, “I can’t get over it. I don’t feel any differently, and I hope that doesn’t change.”

Gitlin said his plans for the money include helping his children, investing for the future, and perhaps taking a vacation to Europe.

The New York Lottery contributed $30,611,838 in Lottery Aid To Education to school districts in Rockland County during fiscal year 2015-16.

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.30 billion in fiscal year 2015-2016 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery’s contribution represents 14 percent of total state education aid to local school districts.

New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school district’s size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.