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Models Of Queens
Walking the Walk
Betty Baddoo
Home: Jamaica
Age: 23
Height: 5’8"
Weight: 130 lbs.
Stats: 34B-26-38
Born in Brooklyn, raised in Ghana and now living in Jamaica, Queens, Elizabeth “Betty” Baddoo enjoys meeting people from all walks of life.
In Ghana, Baddoo learned to speak Asante and Ga, in addition to English. She moved to Queens at the age of 12 and described having to adjust to the new environment. “It was quite strange. There was a different culture in Ghana. It was something I had to adapt to.”
One thing that didn’t change was her love of walking.
“As kids, we used to always practice walking,” Baddoo said, describing a competitive game she and other 8-year-old girls played to see who had the best walk.
“Modeling is something I was interested in since I was in Ghana,” she added.
Baddoo’s part-time modeling career took off at the age of 16 when she was “discovered” at a talent show at John Bowne High School. Since then, Baddoo has walked the runway at numerous fashion shows, including the huge “Black Expo” exhibition at the Jacob Javitz Center earlier this summer.
More recently, Baddoo has worked three shows for Queens fashion designer Tamara Pogosian.
Looking ahead, she will walk her walk at Fashion Week next February.
Aside from fashion modeling, Baddoo likes shopping, watching movies, playing pool, bowling and eating out on Austin Street in Forest Hills. She also loves to dance hip hop and reggae, and once danced with a group of friends who called themselves the Stone Dancers.
With a business degree from Queensborough Community College, the 23-year-old currently works in downtown Manhattan as a license administrator for a ship registry company.
Ultimately, Baddoo said, she wants to run her own business. “I want to be a designer. I don’t want to work for someone all my life. I want to control my destiny.”
Poetic License . . . Plate
The impressive Jaguar with the whimsical plate was seen in the Target parking lot in College Point. Email your "Poetic License . . .Plate" to
Con@QueensTribune.com photo: Ira Cohen |
Cool Queens
Queens' new resident Alicia Keyes |
Songstress Alicia Keys won droves of fans — not to mention a Grammy — for her debut album in 2001. The 22-year-old musical phenom dropped her follow-up effort this week, entitled The Diary of Alicia Keys, to a gush of media attention.
The bigger news, however, was the startling revelation that Keys has recently moved into her “dream home” somewhere in the borough of Queens. Time magazine thought the information newsworthy enough to title its profile about Keys “Princess of Queens.”
In the Time piece, the interview er questions what an A-list celebrity like Keys is doing moving in to an outer-borough — since Keys was raised in Manhattan. “It’s a cool part of Queens,” Keys responds. “There’s a mall really close by. A good mall.”
The interviewer still seemed baffled that an up-and-comer like Keys could shun SoHo for Queens, so she explained, “I’m very — almost insanely — passionate about remaining a connected, boring, human person.”
Some might read an unintended slight in a characterization that deemed Queens the home of boring humans, but it seems Keys, like thousands of new immigrants and the hordes of long-timers that never want to leave, know that Queens is a place where people are allowed to be real, away from the hype and hoopla of that other borough over the river.
Welcome to Queens, Alicia Keys.
It’s All About Who You Know
Forest Hill Gardens resident Mickey Leigh has his own “get out of jail free” card.
It’s his birth certificate.
Leigh’s brother was the late great Joey Ramone, front man of the legendery punk rock band The Ramones.
Ramone died of cancer two years ago, and on Nov. 30, Leigh was rushing to his old digs in the East Village for a street renaming ceremony in his honor. The city was renaming a part of Second Avenue and The Bowery to Joey Ramone Place.
Leigh was rushing because he was late for the ceremony, and he said, “I was hurrying as fast as I could. I thought I would miss it.”
As he was “hurrying” on the Grand Central Parkway near Queens Boulevard, a traffic cop spotted him speeding and pulled him over.
Leigh explained to the tough as nails copper that he was in a rush before innocently showing him a PBA card that he received after his brother did a Police benefit.
After Leigh further explained his story, the cop exclaimed, “You’re Joey Ramone’s brother? Wow!”
They then chit chatted and the cop told Leigh about how much he loves The Ramones and so on before letting Leigh go.
Leigh then sped off to Manhattan, and made it “just in time.”
“Whoever that cop was, thanks,” Leigh said. “I don’t know his name, and I don’t want to get him in trouble, but thanks.”
It’s all about who you know
Starstruck Silvercup
Mayor Mike Bloomberg at Silvercup Studios , Long Island City to celebrate their 20th Anniversary. The cast of "Hope and Faith" a new ABC sitcom stopped by to say hello: (r. to l.): Stay-at-home mom Hope (Faith Ford, of “Murphy Brown”) leads a busy, family-centered suburban life in the Midwest with her husband, Charley (Ted McGinley of “Married... with Children”). Her celebrity sister, Faith (Kelly Ripa of “Live with Regis & Kelly” & “All My Children”), has been living the high life in Hollywood as a soap opera diva until her soap’s character is suddenly killed off by her evil twin. Faith flees Tinseltown and seeks refuge in the suburbs with her sister. As Hope soon learns, you can kill the diva off on the daytime drama, but you can’t take the drama out of the diva.
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The Vallone family dynasty. (L. to r.)
Campaign Manager Cara, Pete Jr., Casey and Pete Sr.
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Poltical Dynasties Proliferate
Look out Weprins, here come the Vallones.
No, not the singing group – that’s the Ramones.
As political dynasties continue to proliferate in Queens, a third generation of the powerful western Queens Vallone family has been elected to office.
Fourth grader Casey Vallone was elected last week to be vice president of P.S. 188 in Queens. She was chosen from over 70 others to be one of three candidates through an anonymous essay-writing contest. Then, after a two-week campaign and a speech in front of the entire school, Casey was the winner.
The political heiress to the dynasty told her classmates, “I love working with the teachers and students and I hope I can help make this school an even better place.”
“I’m so proud of her. She actually handmade book marks for her entire grade — maybe I should try that,” stated Casey’s dad, City Councilmember Peter F. Vallone Jr.
Casey’s great-grandfather Charles J. Vallone was a highly respected jurist.
And dynasty patriarch former Council Speaker Peter Vallone added: “We are very proud of Casey, the youngest Vallone ever to achieve elected office”
Next year as a fifth grader, Casey plans to run for president of P.S. 188, and after that, who knows?
No word if Casey supports term limits.
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Queens
NYConfidential is edited by: Michael Schenkler |
| Contributors: |
Q
Confidential is edited by: Michael Schenkler
Contributors:Angela Montefinise,
Steve Azzara, Ira Cohen, Marcia Moxam Comrie, Stephen McGuire, Michael Nussbaum,
Azi Paybarah, Aaron Rutkoff, and
Shams Tarek |
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