Central Islip woman claims $1M winning lottery ticket

A Central Islip woman came forward Tuesday to claim a $1,000,000 winning ticket she purchased at an Islip Terrace 7-Eleven, the New York Lottery announced.

Janiah Williams claimed the top prize in the New York Lottery $1,000,000 Holiday Cash scratch-off game, the state lottery said in a news release. After required withholdings, Williams secured a lump sum payment of $455,700.

Williams purchased her ticket at a 7-Eleven on Lowell Avenue in Islip Terrace, the lottery said.

Lower tier prizes from $10 up to $5,000 can still be claimed through Jan. 13, 2026, according to the New York Lottery website. The odds of winning back the cost of the $10 ticket are about 1 in 6.25, while the odds of securing $5,000 are 1 in 605,562.50.

The odds of snagging the top prize were slimmer than 1 in 2.4 million, according to the website.

Williams is the first Long Islander to claim a top New York Lottery prize since Feb. 11, the website says. At that time, five relatives of the Rahman family from Bay Shore and Floral Park each took home $651,000 following withholdings after winning the Cash X100 scratch-off game’s top prize of $5 million, Newsday previously reported. That ticket was purchased for $20 from Rons Deli Grocery Store on Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica.

That same day, Rosario Mejia of Huntington Station claimed a $2 million top prize on the Cashword scratch-off game, according to the New York Lottery. Mejia purchased her ticket for $20 from stationery store in Huntington and took home a one-time payment of $846,300 after withholdings.

State lawmakers are currently mulling a bill that would allow lottery winners to remain anonymous, Newsday previously reported.