As a cabbie strike made it easier to flag down a school bus than a yellow taxi last week, the Big Apple did its best to keep moving forward.

A stretch of freakishly cold and rainy August weather seemed all too appropriate for a week of unseasonably chilling news.

As the city draped itself in black last week to mourn the death of Brooke Astor, stock-market troubles aside, the summer’s darkest days otherwise seemed to have passed.

In a week in which a freak twister whipped through Brooklyn, downing trees and smashing cars, everything seemed like it was spinning.

Citizens left the city in droves as August began, apparently fleeing the cloud of uncertainty that seemed to have settled over the city.

The city was shaken last week when an explosion tore open the ground near Grand Central spewed scalding vapor into the midtown sky, but steam was being blown off everywhere.

They got the lead parts in Grease via reality TV. But will they get voted off our island?

Mother Nature cooked up a heat wave to celebrate last week’s 30th anniversary of the ’77 blackout, but GOP front-runner Rudy Giuliani was feeling hot under the collar.

As the rockets’ red glare faded over New York Harbor and the city awaited the auspicious date of 7/7/07, residents had reason to feel lucky.

As the city was drenched alternately by rain and perspiration, Mayor Bloomberg fanned presidential-run rumors by announcing that he’d cooled on the Republican Party.