Machines Don’t Just Serve To Justify Annoying Alternate-Side Parking Rules

Apparently they actually do suck stuff up there:

A Boston terrier was sucked into a fast-moving street sweeper and killed in a heartrending accident in the Bronx.

“It happened so fast,” said the dog’s owner, Robert Machin, who was holding Ginger’s leash when she disappeared. “It spun me around, and as it spun me around, I caught a last glimpse of her.”

Machin, who had been walking the dogs in the Soundview neighborhood Thursday morning, had the door to his Honda Civic open and was about to get inside with Ginger and his other terrier, Buster, when the sweeper struck the dog.

Witnesses said the Department of Sanitation vehicle was speeding.

“I was devastated,” Machin said. “I was completely dumbfounded and shocked. I mean, I just witnessed my dog sucked up into a street sweeper.”

He said he chased the sweeper for about 2 1/2 blocks, shouting for the operator to stop. The driver eventually went back to the scene, but refused to turn off the whirring brushes that had crushed the pooch until he arrived.

The Department of Sanitation called the death “a rare and unfortunate accident.”

Who Is A Staten Islander?

Martin Sheen is a Staten Islander:

“West Wing” star Martin Sheen went to the state Capitol yesterday to lobby for the “dead celebrities” bill, which would protect deceased stars from unauthorized, commercial use of their image, but he ended up reminiscing with a delegation of Staten Island lawmakers about the time he lived in this borough.

Sheen recalled watching movies at the St. George Theatre, playing golf at the Silver Lake course and delivering his second son, Ramon Estevez, in 1963 in the living room of his apartment at 30 Daniel Low Terr. Sheen and his wife, Janet, are also the parents of actors Emilio (“The Mighty Ducks”) Estevez, Charlie (“Two and a Half Men”) Sheen and Renee Estevez.

“We talked about how (Silver Lake) is still the same course and how he loved Staten Island and how he’d like to come back at some point — so we extended the invitation,” said Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island), who lives next door to the city golf course.

According to an article on Sheen’s Web site, the actor, one of 10 children, lost his mother when he was 11 and spent much of his youth working as a caddie in Ohio. He said the experience forced him to see the differences between the “haves and the have-nots.” He has refused to join a private club ever since, opting instead to golf at public courses and carry his own bag.

“I let him know that he has to come back to see the renovated St. George Theatre,” added Assemblyman Matthew Titone (D-North Shore), who also met with Sheen.

97 Degree Weather/Hordes Of Tourists

Honestly it’s a tossup, but either way, this is good to know:

It took some zigzagging, but I stayed cool all the way from Grand Central Terminal to Central Park.

Starting at 42nd Street and Park Avenue, I took an escalator in the terminal to the MetLife building — finally venturing onto the street at 47th.

A short, shady walk under some scaffolding brought me to the Tower 49 building at 48th and Madison. I cut through the lobby to 49th Street.

A back entrance to Saks Fifth Avenue was right across the street. I checked out some sunglasses and flip-flops on the way to the 50th Street exit.

I cut through St. Patrick’s Cathedral to 51st Street, but then I had to brave the hot sidewalk along Fifth Avenue one block to 52nd.

At 52nd Street, I crossed the street and ducked inside the lobby of 666 Fifth.

Exiting at 53rd Street, I cooled off at St. Thomas Church and emerged outside the staid University Club, where I cut through a vestibule and wound up halfway to 55th Street.

Crossing Fifth and walking partway down 55th, I soon reached Sony Plaza, where I took a quick break on my way to 56th Street.

Another air-conditioned indoor public plaza was waiting on the other side, which I exited at 57th Street. I then crossed Fifth and wound up in Bergdorf Goodman.

81 Years Without A Death . . .

. . . but whiplash is a different matter:

Coney Island’s famed Cyclone roller coaster isn’t just terrifying – it’s downright dangerous.

There were at least seven incidents last summer in which riders suffered serious back and neck injuries, records show.

At least two lawsuits stemming from the incidents have been filed, including one demanding $1 million. But the ride’s operator, Carole Albert, has quietly worked to settle the suits, insisting on ironclad confidentiality agreements, a source said.

In the lawsuit discussions, lawyers for Albert’s company, Astroland Inc., admitted the problems were caused because the ride made its first 85-foot drop with too much speed, the source said.

Location Scout: The Cyclone.

As If You Need Something Else To Keep You Up At Night . . .

. . . but look on the bright side — maybe the noise will drown out that 3 a.m. car stereo, your upstairs neighbors’ reggaeton mixes or all those drunk bar patrons. And maybe a cottage industry of cicada white noise sleep aids will crop up, and we’ll never not have to hear their 100-decibel hum:

Cicadas are succumbing to the 17-year itch.

The last time the giant, but harmless, insects visited New York, David Dinkins was mayor and the subway fare was $1.15.

But after living six inches underground since 1991, millions are about to come to the surface across the Northeast: The males will sing their distinctive song, the females will swoon, and then they will mate and die.

Unlike some species of cicadas, which show up year after year, the periodic variety arrives in intervals of 13 or 17 years, numbers that have mystified entomologists for generations.

“When the Pilgrims came to the New World, they thought cicadas were a plague from God and mislabeled them locusts, even though they are only a distant relation,” said John Cooley, an entomologist at the University of Connecticut.

. . .

This particular brood stretches from Georgia to Massachusetts. Locally, they are concentrated on Long Island, although some might remain in Brooklyn and Queens. “Cicadas have survived millions of years, even through ice ages, so if they are moving toward extinction, that is a concern,” he said.

As temperatures reach the mid-60s, the cicadas prepare to rise to the surface and complete their development, growing to as long as two inches.

Known as the loudest insects in the world, the male’s song can exceed 100 decibels, louder than a subway train.
. . .

When the cicadas are silenced in a few weeks, this particular brood will not return until 2025, but cicada fans can take heart, another 17-year brood is due in 2010.