NY insomniac wins $7.5 million lottery prize

May 9, 2014, 5:36 pm (17 comments)

New York Lottery

A Staten Island, New York, man won millions of dollars, thanks to a bout of insomnia.

Salvatore Gandolfo, 55, of Arden Heights couldn't sleep on April 1, so he got up and bought a scratch-off ticket that won him $7.5 million, he said on Tuesday.

"That night, I was thinking about someone from my past, someone who is no longer here," said Gandolfo, a former NYC Department of Finance worker.

"It was about 3 or 4 in the morning. I couldn't sleep. I woke up and ate breakfast. I put on my clothes, got in my car and drove," Gandolfo said.

The restless retiree hopped out of his Honda and paid $25 for a Silver Spectacular ticket at Richmond Deli & Grocery in Mariners Harbor.

"I scanned it and it said 'big ticket winner.' I thought there was something wrong with the ticket ... It didn't sink in. It didn't register in my mind," he said.

He added, "I was shocked when I realized I had won."

To celebrate, he gave a kid at the store a $20 bill and a second stranger a $40 winning ticket, he said.

Cash can help you sleep better — but Gandolfo still has trouble snoozing sometimes, he said.

He woke up at 2 a.m. on Tuesday because he was thinking about his family, he said.

He opted to take home a lump-sum payout of $4,672,800. He plans to spend his winnings to travel, buy a new Honda and help his family financially.

"I'm a simple man ... the one thing I always wanted was happiness. You can't put a price on happiness, but it makes me happy to help my family," he said.

Other winners announced on Tuesday include Michael Palmer, 29, of Brooklyn, who won $1 million, and a pool 36 co-workers from Bloomberg LP in Manhattan, who also won $1 million.

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New York Post

Comments

ThatScaryChick's avatarThatScaryChick

Congrats to him! Cheers

Daveo77

Very nice.

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

Razz @ rotten insomniac

Artist77's avatarArtist77

Nice down to earth guy.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Congratulations to Sal and continued good luck.

C0w Pi3

Congrats! Hyper

Coin Toss's avatarCoin Toss

Good for him!

And surely there are people who were constantly telling him to get more sleep!

Green laugh

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

Congrats!!! Enjoy your gift from the afterlife.

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

if he is laying awake at 2 am thinking about the past, i dont think the money is going to make him happy.Learn to  live in the present  pal.  the past  cant be  changed , and the future isnt here, I think  he will have as many sleepless nights  or more  in the future.,  but gratz and good luck,

luckyshoes's avatarluckyshoes

Now thats a winner !Smile

Saylorgirl's avatarSaylorgirl

My Grandma always said "the early bird catches the worm"!  Congratulations.

rock_nc's avatarrock_nc

Quote: Originally posted by savagegoose on May 10, 2014

if he is laying awake at 2 am thinking about the past, i dont think the money is going to make him happy.Learn to  live in the present  pal.  the past  cant be  changed , and the future isnt here, I think  he will have as many sleepless nights  or more  in the future.,  but gratz and good luck,

I Agree!

rock_nc's avatarrock_nc

Quote: Originally posted by Saylorgirl on May 10, 2014

My Grandma always said "the early bird catches the worm"!  Congratulations.

I Agree!

Marilyn222's avatarMarilyn222

I'm guessing, he'll be buying more tickets w/o sleep...lol

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