If its the girl that I think you are talking about...she's Polish. And from what I hear not very good. "Cleared to takeoff"?? how about cleared for takeoff?
If she wasn't very good she wouldn't be working JFK tower.

This.
She would have to know and be on her game if she is at JFK. Compare her and how well she moves traffic with hardballs like JFK Arnie. You'd see, as crazy and hardworking as Arnie was, that she does just as well of a job.
And it is not at all uncommon to have someone who was ATC in another country work as ATC in this country (or vice-versa). So I would think it's a bit of a far stretch to jump all over her use of one word in her phraseology.
BL.