Squeegee man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The sometimes pejorative term squeegee man (or woman) refers to an individual who, washcloth and squeegee in hand, applies them to the windshields of cars trapped in traffic and then accepts donations from drivers.
Squeegee men are a feature of life in many cities around the world, including London, New York, Boston and Mexico City.
In New York City, mayor Rudy Giuliani famously embarked on a crusade against squeegee men as part of his quality-of-life campaign, claiming that their near-ubiquitous presence created an environment of disorder that encouraged more serious crime to flourish (see broken windows theory). Squeegee men disappeared from city streets during Giuliani's mayoralty and have yet to reappear in significant numbers.
Londoners, and perhaps others, extend the appellation to include those who roam in the midst of stopped traffic to not only wash windscreens, but also hawk items such as roses and newspapers. For this reason, they are sometimes called squeegee merchants.
In Toronto and Vancouver, they are known as squeegee kids and they are mostly tolerated, since they are considered to be working for money, rather than begging. In 1999 the Ontario government passed the Safe Streets Act, outlawing squeegee kids and public begging. Squeegee kids became scarce on Toronto curbsides. In Vancouver the practice is allowed, but it is illegal for them to threaten drivers for payment. In Australia the practice of unsolicited window washing for money is illegal.
