Julie Inzanti

Gowanus Your Face Off --the subject of this edition of Confessions of a Neighborhood Blogger--was founded almost five years ago by Ben Aufill, a producer and designer who has lived in the area since 2008. Gowanus -- in case you don't know -- is a neighborhood in Brooklyn that wraps around the Gowanus Canal between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens. The Gowanus Canal, according to the EPA, has become one of the most, "extensively contaminated water bodies." But even that terrifying news doesn't stop New Yorkers from creating a community in an otherwise uninhabitable area.

We Heart Astoria--the latest in BrickUnderground's Confessions of a Neighborhood Blogger series--was started in 2010 by three Astoria enthusiasts. The blog focuses on hyperlocal Astoria news with an emphasis on food, culture and the arts as well as community events, local retail, real estate and city living. Here's what the three founders told us about living in Astoria.

Ask a New York apartment dweller what they lack, and the answer is usually space... especially outdoor space. After seeing these terraces, you'll never look at your fire escape the same way again.

Born-and-bred New Yorker Jen Galatioto is the latest to add her voice to BrickUnderground's Confessions of a Neighborhood Blogger series. Galatioto grew up in Middle Village, Queens, but when she moved to Greenpoint, Brooklyn in 2010 she found a real sense of community and home and wanted to blog about it. So a year later she bought the blog Greenpointers from Justine Carroll, who founded it in 2007.