New York City’s newest lottery millionaires include a Brooklyn hotel waiter who plans to keep working.
Bedford-Stuyvesant resident Oral Lindo, 51, a server at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott, won $3 million from the “50X the Money” scratch-off game — and will receive $93,456 a year for the next 20 years.
“I’m going to send my two sons to college,” said Lindo, who originally hails from Jamaica, said. “And I’m going to buy me and my wife and my kids a house. That’s the main thing.”
Lindo was one of nine winners who received oversized checks from New York Lottery spokeswoman Yolanda Vega at the Lotto Claim Center in Manhattan on Friday.
Lindo, who has worked at the Marriott for 14 years, bought the winning ticket at the Echavarria Foods Corp. on Dekalb Ave. in Brooklyn last month. He said he couldn’t believe his good fortune.
“I thought my eyes were deceiving me,” he said. “Then I just sat down, looked at the ticket, and smiled.”
“I think it’s very important to keep me busy,” he said.
Joseph Pisarra of Brooklyn won the $1 million jackpot from the Sweet Million drawing Jan. 27 after buying tickets at the pub where he works, Pam’s Bar on Fifth Ave. in Brooklyn.
“We had a heads-up that we had a winner at the place where I work,” said Pisarra, who will celebrate his birthday next week. “I knew I played $10 in Quick Pick. I went home and checked my numbers, and sure enough, I had it.”
Pisarra said he immediately called his job.
“I told the bartender, ‘Buy everybody a drink!'”
Pisarra said he’s still pondering what to do with his windfall — $623,040 after withholding taxes.
“I don’t have the foggiest,” Pisarra said. “I’m going to talk to a financial adviser and take it from there.”
Other winners included Nadine Stevens, 48, who collected $1 million on the New York Poker scratch-off game after buying a ticket on Cortlandt St. in Manhattan last month. Stevens, an administrative assistant from the Bronx, opted to receive her winnings in 20 annual payments of $31,152 after withholdings.
“I was on my way home from work that evening, and I decided to try my luck,” she said. “When I scratched it, I was in denial. I couldn’t believe it.”
Stevens said she plans to use the money to pay off her mortgage and put her kid through college.
Stevens said she has no plans to quit her job.
Podiatrist David Schaffer of Flushing, Queens, said his $5 million windfall from the “$5,000,000 Multiplier” scratch-off game will let him take more time to indulge his passion for songwriting. He got a net check of $3.5 million.
“I really don’t have any plans. But I want to continue writing songs. So I’ll have free time to do that now.”
