Eduardo Reyes joins fellow Staten Islander Rigoberto Mejia Mendoza as a $7,000,000 jackpot winner on the popular $7,000,000 Golden Ticket scratch-off ticket. Mejia Mendoza won his life changing prize in December 2015. Three months later Reyes scratched his way to riches on the very same ticket.

“I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me,” explained the head chef for a diner on Staten Island. “I scanned the ticket at the store to be sure, but it wasn’t working that day. I brought the ticket home and put it in a safe place.”

Reyes is very familiar with the $7,000,000 Golden Ticket. “I play this game quite often. I’ve won on in the past so I keep playing it.”

50-year-old Reyes purchased his ticket at the Liquor Depot on Forest Avenue. The $7,000,000 top prize is paid out as a one-time lump sum payment. Reyes will receive a net check totaling $4,362,280 after required withholdings.

“I’m still in shock,” said the newly-minted millionaire. “Once this great news finally sinks in, I plan to buy a new house for me and my family.”

The New York Lottery contributed $1,265,576,989 in Lottery Aid To Education to school districts throughout the five boroughs during fiscal year 2014-2015.

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.11 billion in fiscal year 2014-2015 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.