Resident wins
$10 million on
Lotto scratch-off game
Nora Murphy was watching her laundry spin at Mr. Suds in New Hyde Park on Friday, Sept. 13 when she realized she hadn’t bought her “Take Five” Lotto ticket for the week. Leaving her laundry, Murphy strolled over to Lakeville Pharmacy and played a quick-pick ticket when she noticed a new scratch-off dubbed “$10,000 A Week For Life” that just debuted for $20.
Standing in the pharmacy, the New Hyde Park resident scratched the ticket and did a double-take. She realized she “had something good here.” Murphy had just won $10 million, the maximum payout for the ticket.
“I scratched all the numbers off and I never see the word ‘life’ on a ticket,” Murphy said at a press conference on Thursday, Oct. 3. “The [store clerk] asked if I needed help and I said ‘no, I’m going to put it on the barcode [scanner]. The [machine] said sign the back of my ticket.”
Murphy raced to the back of the pharmacy to make photocopies of the ticket and went back to Mr. Suds to put her clothes in the dryer. The new millionaire drove to the NY Lottery Customer Service Center in Garden City to claim her newfound funds. Murphy’s laundry on the other hand, remained in the dryer the whole time.
Murphy has routinely played “Take 5” and “Two Dollar Win For Life” throughout the years. Her initial reaction to the win was shock.
“I knew I had to not lose what I had in my hand so I got [the ticket] to where it had to go,” she said. “I came in to buy milk and play [Lotto] and I came out a winner.”
While ear-to-ear smiles and oversized checks are the norm whenever big lotto amounts are awarded, Murphy plays for fun, but couldn’t have imagined hitting it this big.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “Still in a little shock.”
Murphy is unsure what she’ll do with the money in the long run, but has friends overseas that she wants to visit.
“What I thought was I won $10,000 a week for life and what that could have meant I really don’t know but it was awesome,” she said. “I have a lot of friends in Ireland, so I want to make a trip there to see them. After that, I’ll think about my future plans.”
Store clerk Elaine Colatosti sold Murphy the winning ticket. She’s worked at the pharmacy for 22 years and has lived in New Hyde Park since 1982.
“It was exciting,” she said. “She said ‘I think I won.’ She is a big winner. “I was excited for her. We’re always happy to see a winner.”
Store manager Grant Derwin said the pharmacy had big winners before, but never this big. He said one customer won $10,000 in “Mega Millions” two days after Murphy won her prize. Derwin has run the store for the last 17 years.
“It’s all luck,” he said. “There’s no way you can predict [where a winner will be]. It can be from a 7-Eleven or smoke shop or a pharmacy.”
Murphy chose to receive the lump sum payout of $5,090,237. She became the 107th lottery millionaire in 2013, who says she may continue to play Lotto even with the big win.
“Possibly, but I don’t think I have to make that decision right now,” she said with a chuckle. I figured I had a chance to be set for life, so I bought the ticket. I didn’t think this would happen.”
The NY Lottery also honored Jose Hernandez of West Babylon, who won $1 million on the “Million Dollar Money Stack!” scratch-off game.
