Northern Liberties, that slice of town north of Old City, has been a hotbed of development in the last few years. Apartments, condos, even a swim club/hipster bar.

But a "nudist, all-denomination worship hall"?

The online bulletin board at NorthernLiberties.org lit up last week over a notice announced in an e-mail by the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association's zoning committee:

"Ernie Gondola - 620 N. 2nd St. - C2 - Proposal for a 'nudist all denomination worship hall' - by appointment only - no open space, green roof or windows (thank God)" was on the agenda for the group's monthly meeting, along with news of sundry construction projects.

Zoning chair Larry Freedman owns that property. Freedman, on the board since 1987, said 50 percent of the people who approached him about it had noticed the date of the "possible" hearing: April 1.

Tube watch

The Food Network's Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels will be shooting in Philly eateries on Thursday and Friday, but you won't see Her Rachaelness herself. Just the crew will show up, as Ray's reps say she has other fish to fry.

Two camera crews from History - formerly the History Channel - have visited the Academy of Natural Sciences to shoot dinosaurs. Both shows - Monsters From the Past and Jurassic Fight Club - are expected to be shown later this year.

Briefly noted

Chestnut Hill's Buzz Bissinger is one of five finalists for feature writing in the American Society of Magazine Editors Awards for a piece about Barbaro for Vanity Fair. Philadelphia Magazine is one of five finalists in the category of general excellence for magazines in 100,000 to 250,000 size.

Rick's Cabaret, the publicly traded strip club, says it will grand-open at the South Philly site of Crazy Horse Too on the weekend of April 24-26.

Must have been ladies' night at Saturday's grand opening of O.N.E. at Rittenhouse, the club/lounge at 19th and Sansom Streets. Spotted: 6ABC's Nydia Han, Fox29's Dorothy Krysiuk, Sharon Crowley and Tasha Jamerson, and Q102's Blaire.

When filmmaker Tigre Hill booked Rae restaurant for Thursday's wrap party of his documentary The Barrel of a Gun, he had no idea that a key court decision would come down that morning about the film's subject, Mumia Abu-Jamal. "Total irony," says Hill, whose last flick was The Shame of a City, about the 2003 mayoral election. A few of Barrel's interviewees were at the party, including D.A. Lynne Abraham, former Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, and lawyer Jimmy Binns. Hill, who expects to release the film late this year, also spoke to actors and Abu-Jamal sympathizers Ed Asner and Mike Farrell as he and his crew traveled to France, San Francisco and L.A. to shoot footage.

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Contact columnist Michael Klein at 215-854-5514 or mklein@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/michaelklein.