LIers strive to keep cool as temperatures climb

Long Islanders found different ways to cope with the July heat. Here's how they managed, along with the high temperatures they experienced, as reported by WeatherBug.com.

ARLENE DIAZ, LONG BEACH, 100 degrees

Arlene Diaz, 33, of Ozone Park relaxed in the cool breeze and even cooler water at Long Beach. She planned the day at the beach with her three children, Daniel, 15, Annabel, 11, and Aaron, 3, and her sister Lizbeth Ruiz, 18, Saturday when they saw the weather report.

The native of the Dominican Republic said she is used to the heat but not the cold water. But that didn't stop them from immersing themselves.

"People were standing by the edge of the water shouting "Oh my God! Oh my God!" she said. "It's just so cold, but at least it gets you out of the heat."

- Zeke Miller

RALPH SAINT ELOI, FREEPORT, 94 degrees

The blazing heat didn't dissuade Ralph Saint Eloi, 22, of Freeport, from spending the holiday jogging down the village's Nautical Mile.

"The jog was good," Saint Eloi said as sweat dripped from his brow. "But, the hot weather caught up to me."

So how did Saint Eloi plan to cool down?

"I am going to relax in the pool and drink a lot of Gatorade," he said.

- Matthew Coleman

ANDY WALTERS, DIX HILLS, 102 degrees

Walters had to work Monday, but his job - driving a Zamboni at the Dix Hills Ice Rink - offered relief from the heat.

Walters, 52, a Huntington Town maintenance worker, operated the vehicle used to smooth rink ice in an indoor space cooled to about 60 degrees.

Monday's humidity caused condensation on the ice, meaning Walters had to resurface it more frequently than usual, but he wasn't complaining.

The low temperature on the ice "has its advantages," he said.

- Patrick Whittle

DANIEL TORPEY, MINEOLA, 100 degrees

Torpey, 55, an employee with Welsbach Electric Corp. of Plainview, spent the day replacing traffic light bulbs throughout Nassau. Shortly after noon, during a brief break in a parking lot on Jericho Turnpike in Mineola, Torpey said he had spent the "brutally hot" day being elevated high above streets in a cherry picker in the middle of traffic. "It's hotter the closer you get to the sun," said Torpey. "It's going to be hot the rest of the week. At least I'll lose some weight."

- Alfonso Castillo

PHYLLIS GLICK, VALLEY STREAM, 97 degrees

Glick, owner of Able Wildlife Solutions in Baldwin, spent the scorching day inspecting homes for raccoons and rodents - in some cases climbing onto sweltering roof tops and into stuffy attics.

"It makes it very uncomfortable," she said. "We try to stay hydrated," said Glick as she prepared for an inspection in Valley Stream around 11 a.m. with co-worker James Hayes. "We do the same thing when it's zero degrees out."

- Alfonso Castillo

DIANE ANGELINE, EAST GARDEN CITY, 100 degrees

Diane Angeline, 54, of Hempstead, tried to escape the heat by catching a movie at the AMC Lowes Roosevelt Field. "I'm sure it's cooler in there," said Angeline, clutching a bottle of water as she waited for her husband to buy tickets to the 2:30 showing of "The Last Airbender." "Being out here is a killer," she said. "It's brutal today."

- Alfonso Castillo

JOCELYN LEOPOLD, ROOSEVELT, 95 degrees

Leopold tried to stay cool by washing his car in his driveway while standing under the shade of a tree. "I like it when it's hot out," said Leopold, a bus driver for the MTA who chose to be outdoors Monday rather than inside his air-conditioned home. "The tree gives you shade and the breeze is a little cool."

- Alfonso Castillo

MONTAGUE FERRY, EAST HAMPTON, 97 degrees

Looking cool and calm, Ferry, 48, breezed into BookHampton on Main Street in East Hampton to browse. He was more annoyed by the traffic on Route 27 than the blazing sun. "It's the perfect beach day, but I have to work," said Ferry, who owns an international design firm that does branding and promotion. "What bothers me is the humidity, and today it's not that humid." He conceded that the heat wave a few days ago prompted him to purchase an air conditioner for his home office.

- Dave Marcus

MATTHEW BISONO, BAY SHORE, 96 degrees

Matthew, 11, clutched his 2-year-old brother, Brian, and swept down a waterslide at Islip Town's new Shipwreck Cove spray park, which opened June 26 at Bay Shore Marina.

Matthew frolicked with his little brother, wading through the 6-inch deep pool amid water cannons, dump buckets and streams of water spraying from every direction as their older brother, Johnathan, 13, looked on from the edge of the pool, and their mother, Caty Martinez of Bay Shore, praised the park as a safe place to bring the kids as she noted the five lifeguards monitoring their play.

"It's very hot," Matthew observed. "It feels great in the water."

- Jennifer Maloney

LEO PJETRI, BAYVILLE, 93 degrees

As waves washed up at Charles E. Ransom Beach in Bayville, Leo Pjetri, 34, of Sunnyside, Queens, baited the hook on his fishing rod and cast into Long Island Sound.

"High tide is coming in so we are expecting to catch some fish," he said.

"We are hot," he added. "I already went in the shade once to cool off."

But his friend, Tom Deda, 50, of Forest Hills, added "you can't ask for a better day to fish."

- Matthew Coleman

JUAN COLLAZOS, SOUTHAMPTON, 97 degrees

Collazos, 44, had the day off from his job painting houses so he relaxed by painting his family's cars. By the afternoon, he was on the third car, his son's Jeep Grand Cherokee, doing detail work.

After what seemed like a long and bitter winter, Collazos said he relished Monday's heat. But he made sure to avoid dehydration by drinking constantly. Taking a rest? That was out of the question. "The only time I sit I when I'm getting ready to go to sleep."

- Dave Marcus