I can barely take it. I just need two days in the Caribbean and I’ll be able to get this summer nonsense out of my system. The closest way I can get near that heat is through our episode on “Hot in Harlem.”

Filming this story was bittersweet for me. I had lived in Harlem for 18 months before moving to SoHo, and it’s been close to a year now since I’ve returned. I’m not going to wax poetic on my fond memories of the place, but I will say that it was very cool seeing some familiar faces Uptown.

Shortly after moving out of Harlem in December of ‘06, I was contacted by a reporter who was interested in writing an article about me. I asked him about the angle of the story, but being the smart and savvy reporter that he is, he was quite vague.

Now being a reporter, and thinking like one, I thought the interesting angle on any story about me was not that I was a part of the gentrification process that’s happening in Harlem, but that I had left. In other words, the headline could read “Gentrification In Harlem?”

On the flip side, and as someone commented months ago on my old Harlem blog, I am a renter; so I have less invested in the neighborhood than someone who has bought there. And certainly newbies are moving to Harlem, buying and sticking; not necessarily flipping their properties or renting them out.

There’s much to the Harlem tale, indeed. And as I said at the end of this videocast, we will continue to do pieces on Harlem, its residents — new and old — and of course, its real estate.

I miss those cute sundresses. I’m sure all you men miss the steady stream of abundant cleavage. I think we all miss the summer. HOW MUCH LONGER?

So here’s the barometer read on the Bowery:

Prior to 1807, the Bowery was known as Bowery Lane. Today, It’s one of the coolest areas in NY, thanks in large part to the club CBGB, where the area quickly became known as the American cradle of punk rock and brought a new national fame to the Bowery. CBGB closed on October 31, 2006 after a long rent battle by club owner Hilly Kristal.

My favorite part of this videocast was the the juxtaposition we were able to capture on the Bowery. We met the woman who is sharing her 500-plus square foot space with her roommate, boyfriend and dog. But she’s able to view all the changes happening on the Bowery; like the newly-constructed condominium at 344 Bowery — which we were able to go inside of, as well.

Not to mention that Greg Belew, one of the developers interviewed at 344 Bowery, isn’t exactly hard on the eyes.

I miss the stick. I miss the sweat. I’m freakin freezing…

I had read an article in The New York Times about the Park Slope Parent Trap. It was a story about the nabe being “Hipster Hell or Parent Heaven.”
I thought it might be fun to get these two groups into a dance-off of sorts, and John Travolta came to mind. That guy could do some serious dancing.

Anyway, it was one of the most fun days of shooting I’ve had thus far. My videographer and I found ourselves immersed in baby strollers and hipsters within five minutes of entering the neighborhood.

We came back to the city with so much footage that my video editor, Max, was knee-deep in hipster/parent b-roll. Regardless, Max persevered and went through all the footage and was able to narrow down the shots we wanted to use.

There’s no doubt Park Slope is a cool neighborhood; a lot going on in the nabe and the area actually slopes (small-scale version of San Francisco-style slope). Nice shops; lots of green; good stuff.

Celebrities who have made Park Slope home include Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Connelly and hubby Paul Bettany as well as John Turturro.