‘I Knew Something Was Coming for Me. But I Didn’t Know Just What’

TRENTON (December 9, 2025) – As far as signs from above go, a bird flying into a window at 11 p.m. might not be the most auspicious of omens.

For the $90 Million Mega Millions winner in Hudson County, it will do just fine, thank you very much.

“I was up (the night of the drawing). Hoping for something. Then—whomp—a bird hit my window,” the newly minted multi-millionaire said Monday when visiting the New Jersey Lottery office to claim their prize for the Mega Millions jackpot won Dec. 2. “I knew something was coming for me, but I didn’t know just what.”

That “what” turned out to be the jackpot. The winner will collect the cash value of the prize, which is nearly $42 million.

New Jersey law allows Lottery winners in the Garden State to remain anonymous. The Mega Millions winner wished to remain private but was willing to discuss aspects of the experience.

The winning numbers were 17, 25, 26, 53 and 60. The gold Mega Ball was 16. Each number carried a special significance for the winner, commemorating various life milestones. “I have dreamed of those numbers,” the player said.

The numbers hadn’t always delivered, until the player decided to try something different at the Garden State News, which is in the heart of Union City’s Bergenline Avenue business district.

“I played some of my numbers for Pick-4. Nothing,” the player said, before noting that they decided to play the Mega Millions on the last Sunday of November, two days before the eventful drawing. “I finished work and I came in and played the Mega and used all of my numbers.”

The player did not pay very much attention to the excitement in the community as it buzzed about Garden State News selling the winning ticket. It wasn’t until later in the week when the player went to the store and checked the ticket at the store’s Lottery scanner.

“People were all about asking ‘Who do you think won the prize?’ I just stood there, watching and sipping my coffee,” the player said.

The clerk behind the counter scanned the ticket, but waited for the crowd to thin out before showing the player the prize notice. “I showed the player that they won,” the clerk said. “They still didn’t believe. Then they cried.”

To be sure, the player was overwhelmed in the moment. But, after a few days of reflection is grounded. “This will allow my family to be financially free,” the player said. “But, I want to be careful. I don’t want this to change my life.”

The Impact on the Community

New Jersey Lottery Executive Director James Carey has now seen 10 jackpots won in the Mega Millions and Powerball during his eight-year tenure. He knows well how the Lottery benefits more than just the winners.

In fiscal year 2025, the New Jersey Lottery’s 6,500 retailers earned nearly $200 million in sales commissions and bonuses.

“The retailers are the heart and soul of our business,” Carey said last week during a news conference at the Garden State News. “New Jersey really punches above its weight in terms of big winners. We hope to have even more.”

The Garden State News will receive a $30,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

“It’s great for the player, for us and the community,” Krish Patel, the store owner since 2014, said last week. “Now, we’re one of the lucky stores, too.”

Before the Mega Millions Jackpot, the Hudson County city had seen nine Lottery players this year winning prizes ranging from $10,000 all the way to $260,000. Of those, four were won at shops along Bergenline. But there’s been nothing like the staggering sum won on Dec. 2.

The excitement and energy the Lottery win brings to the community was palpable.

“I’m so happy for Union City and Bergenline,” said Maryuri Martinetti, who also attended the news conference last week with fellow city council member Celin Valdivia. She and Mr. Valdivia were quick to recognize the synergy of the timing of the Mega Millions prize with Union City and the 55th anniversary of the New Jersey Lottery. They pointed out that former state senator and Union City Mayor William Musto was one of the Lottery’s founders.

This jackpot run was the shortest jackpot since August 2023, when a Florida ticket won a $39 million prize just two drawings after another Florida ticket won a game record $1.602 billion.

During the run, the New Jersey Lottery earned nearly $5 million in Mega Millions sales, of which more than $2 million will be contributed to the state’s public employee pension fund. In fiscal year 2025, the New Jersey Lottery contributed more than $1 billion to the state’s public pension fund, which supports teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public workers.

Other Mega Millions jackpots won in 2025 were:

• $348 million: June 27, Virginia
• $112 million: April 18, Ohio
• $344 million: March 25, Illinois
• $113 million: Jan. 17, Arizona

The game’s all-time highest jackpots:

• $1.602 billion: Aug. 8, 2023, Florida
• $1.537 billion: Oct. 23, 2018, South Carolina
• $1.348 billion: Jan. 13, 2023, Maine
• $1.337 billion: July 29, 2022, Illinois
• $1.269 billion: Dec. 27, 2024, California
• $1.128 billion: March 26, 2024, Neptune, Monmouth County, New Jersey
• $1.050 billion: Jan. 22, 2021, Michigan
• $980 million: Nov. 14, 2025, Georgia
• $810 million: Sept. 10, 2024, Texas
• $656 million: March 30, 2012, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland

Mega Millions Winners in New Jersey Since 2018

• Dec. 2, 2025: $90 Million, Union City, Hudson County
• 2024: $1.13 Billion, Neptune, Ocean County
• 2020: $123 million, Bayonne, Hudson County
• 2019: $202 million , Edison, Middlesex County
• 2019: $273 million, Alpha, Warren County
• 2018: $533 million won in Vernon, Sussex County
• 2015: $106 million won by a group of five friends from Yonkers, N.Y., and Basking Ridge, Morris County

Powerball Winners in New Jersey Since 2018

• 2024: $221 Million, Lindenwold, Camden County
• 2019: $274 Million, Philipsburg, Warren County
• 2018: $315.3 Million, Hackensack, Bergen County

More About the New Jersey Lottery

Since its inception in 1970, the Lottery has contributed nearly $34.7 billion to the State, helping to support many worthwhile programs and services. Lottery profits currently help bolster the public employee pension system under a 30-year agreement signed into law in 2017.