Last Sunday I heard my first annual cicada (Tibicen species*) of the year. It was just a quick stridulation in the native flora garden at NYBG. We didn’t hear the bug again during the hour we explored that summer wonderland. This week, I’ve heard a few cicada bursts in Green-Wood and in Sunset Park, across the street from my apartment. No sustained choral whines yet, but soon, my friends, soon. I also saw my first Eastern Cicada Killer Wasps (Sphecius speciosus) of the year, patrolling holes on a patch of the barest looking dirt imaginable in Prospect Park. These enormous wasps, as their name tells, prey on cicadas, feeding them to their young.
I have quite a number of posts on cicadas, mixing the annual and 2013’s glorious appearance of 17-year periodic cicadas on Staten Island. Different genus, different strategies, although it should be noted that the annual or Dog Day cicadas do spend several years underground; the yearly emergences are of different broods. If you want to skip straight to more info on the Dog Days try this post
*It looks like these the Dog Day cicadas, also known as Dog Day harvestflies (flies?) are now considered to be genus Neotibicen.
Backyard and Beyond 
Eastern cicada killers are out in force (at least a couple dozen) in my yard In Windsor Terrace. I’ve seen quite a number of cicada husks as well.