Now that Glen Cove's Ashanti has been named a Long Island ambassador for tourism, it got us thinking about who else should be showing tourists around the area. We'll leave the Hamptons out, since all those celebs can have their assistants help them navigate. (PHOTO: Ashanti by Matthew Rolston for Universal Motown.)
1. Mariah Carey: Mimi feels her emancipation includes a sometimes-unhappy childhood in Greenlawn and various other Long Island towns, so she's not too keen about reliving those times. But it would be cool to see where she grew up.
And she could point out the schools where she says her teachers said she couldn't sing, then get into some glitter-encrusted pink helicopter and laugh as she flew home to count all her newly minted cash.
2. Joan Jett: She still loves rock 'n' roll and she still loves Long Beach after all this time. Now, it might get a bit dicey for Jett to show off all her favorite places in her neighborhood since, well, she still goes to them, but it could be a great tour. And if nothing else, maybe she could help explain why so many L.I. rockers (the gang from Straylight Run, Taking Back Sunday's Mark O'Connell) call Long Beach home.
3. Chuck D: This is a tour that actually could happen. When Public Enemy isn't on its international tours, Chuck is a fixture in Roosevelt and is proud of his neighborhood and his neighbors. He would provide another homegrown success story that would work wonders at changing the world view of what Long Island is all about. Maybe he could Flavor Flav to share the mic for the tour bus. Think about it, Tom Suozzi.
