Squeegee man

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Squeegee man in Dublin

The sometimes pejorative term squeegee man (or woman) refers to an individual who, washcloth and squeegee in hand, cleans windshields of cars stopped in traffic and then solicits money from drivers.

While squeegee men are a feature of life in many cities around the world, the phenomenon first became prevalent in New York City in the 1980s.^{[citation needed]} The usual procedure would involve groups of squeegee men surrounding cars stopped in traffic. Although some were merely providing a service, in other cases the windshield-washing would be carried out without asking, often perfunctory in nature, and followed by demands for payment. Upon his election, 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. Squeegee men disappeared from city streets during Giuliani's mayoralty and have yet to reappear in significant numbers. However, there is some dispute over whether Giuliani was responsible for this.^[1]

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, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg they are known as squeegee kids and they were mostly tolerated, since they were considered to be working for money, rather than begging. In Montreal they are often called squeegee punks^[2], in reference to their appearance, or simply squeegees^[3]. In 1999 the Ontario government passed the Safe Streets Act, outlawing squeegee kids and aggressive public begging. Squeegee kids have become scarce on Toronto and Vancouver curbsides, as police frequently stop them and check their identities for outstanding arrest warrants. In Australia the practice of unsolicited window washing for money is illegal.