Lucky LI Woman Wins Whopping $5M Prize On Lottery Scratch-Off

RIVERHEAD, NY — A Riverhead woman was the lucky winner of a New York Lottery $5 million top prize recently.

According to the New York Lottery, Deborah Kowalski played the 100X scratch-off game and bought her ticket at Bapa Card & Gift in the Riverhead shopping plaza on Old Country Road.

The shop has sold a number of winning tickets in the past, including a $1 million Powerball winner in 2019.

Allan Patel, owner of the Riverhead story, said, of the past win, that he was thrilled. "I'm amazed, it's just fantastic," he said. "We always have winners," Patel told Patch in 2019, adding that he has "small" wins of $20,000, or $10,000. There have been well three larger wins, including, Kowalski's recent windfall.

Kowalski opted to receive her $5,000,000 in a single lump-sum payment of $3,225,000 after required withholdings, the New York Lottery said; there was one unclaimed top prize still available on the 100X ticket.

According to Newsday, Kowalski, who worked for years at Eastern Suffolk BOCES, recently retired and was concerned about being able to stay in the Riverhead area after losing her husband. "I believe in prayer. I believe things are meant to happen," she told Newsday.

The New York Lottery said the organization contributed $281,462,013 in lottery aid to education to school districts in Suffolk County from 2020 to 2021.