The owner of the bodega right next to the Cortelyou Road Q Station won $3 million dollars in the NY State Lottery. Wow. Here from the New York Lottery press release. I found this on Ditmas Park Blog. Thanks Liena.

Yemen-born Abdo Ashariki has owned the Cortelyou Deli & Grocery on Cortelyou Rd. in Brooklyn for three years. The father of 10 children who range in age from 4 to 39 said he liked to watch his customers scratch and win prizes on the New York Lottery tickets he sold to them. “But why,” he asked, “should they have all the fun?” That’s why Ashariki said he usually bought one or two tickets for himself each day, a habit that paid off handsomely on February 20, 2010 when Ashariki purchased a $10 Money ticket that turned out to be a $3,000,000 winner.

Ashariki said he never dreamed of winning a jackpot prize and is still having trouble deciding what to do with his $3,000,000 windfall. “I have not slept in 72 hours,” he said on February 22, 2010 when claiming his winning ticket at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Manhattan. “My future is up in the air. This is a very exciting and unpredictable time for me and my family.”

Ashariki said he did plan to continue working. As for any immediate plans for the money, the former merchant marine said he could now start looking for a new home for his large family. “I would really like to buy two homes – one here and one in Yemen so that I can visit my family there more often.”

As with most instant games, the top prize on the Money ticket is paid in 20 annual installments. Ashariki will receive his $3,000,000 prize as 20 annual payments of $150,000 each before taxes. His annual net check will total $93,573.