A Vietnam War veteran from Flushing cleaned up a cool $1,000,398 from the New York State Lottery recently.
On Wednesday, June 16, Bobby McLeod had a $472 “Take 5” lottery winner in his pocket when he went into the Flushing News Island newsstand on Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue.
“I cashed a $472 Take 5 winner and bought four other scratch-off tickets for $20,” the retired VA Hospital housekeeper explained. “I got home and scratched the first three and I wasn’t feeling too optimistic. Then, I scratched the last one and knew my big day had come.”
McLeod’s New York Lottery Black – Series 2 ticket was a $1 million winner. He’s been playing Lottery games for 25 years – because he likes "the thrill that comes with knowing this could be the big one."
He decided to share the big thrill by surprising his girlfriend of 30 years – meeting her at her subway stop later that day. “She looked at me standing there and got all panicked thinking something was wrong because I’ve never done that before,” recalled McLeod. "I told her I had some news that couldn’t wait.”
McLeod officially received his prize – which he will receive in 20 annual after-tax payments of $30,191 – on Wednesday, July 14.
So, what do you do after 20 years of looking for “the big one?”
“I guess I’ll take a trip somewhere,” McLeod said. “To be honest, after all these years of thinking about it, I really don’t know what I’ll do with the money.”
