Brooklyn Teen Wins $1K Per Week, For Life, In New York Lottery's 'Win For Life' Game
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- You've heard it all before: it only takes a dollar and dream.
A Brooklyn teenager is living that dream.
He bought a New York Lottery scratch-off ticket and is the lucky winner of $1,000 a week for life. CBS 2's Derricke Dennis reported.
He was all smiles, and set for life Tuesday. High school senior Robert Salo said he can't believe his luck.
"It's like you're in a dream, you don't know if it's real or not at the moment, and then reality hits you later on," Salo said.
The 18-year-old and his family from Sheepshead Bay stopped at Coney Island Convenience on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn back on May 14 to fill up their gas tank. They were on their way to get back the family car that had been stolen, when Salo decided to buy a couple of New York Lottery scratch-off tickets.
"We bought the tickets and when I scratched it, I didn't believe it at first," Salo said.
After showing the ticket to his mother and uncle, he never let the ticket out of his sight again until he could claim it the following day at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Manhattan, Salo said.
He won the kind of money adults work years for. Salo will begin getting his before he even graduates high school.
"Today is my last day of school and graduation is in a couple of weeks," Salo said.
He said his plans include going to a college he hasn't named yet to study electrical engineering, and buying a new car.
"Something in my price range, I don't know," Salo said.
Lottery officials said he can afford whatever car he wants -- every year if he wants. He's guaranteed to receive the minimum payment of $1 million over 20 years and it's estimated he'll collect more than $3 million if he lives to 80.
Salo is the youngest person so far to win the "Win for Life" contest, officials said. According to the New York Lottery, the odds of winning the top prize of $1,000 a week for life is 1 in 7,896,000.00.
Salo was one of several winners from Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island to get their ceremonial checks on Tuesday.
What would you do if you won $1,000 for life? Let us know below.
