Last of the Squeegee Men

Despite the myth of the utter disappearance of squeegee men, you still run into the occasional survivor, and a guy cleaned my window with a nice, clean new squeegee around 1:30 this afternoon on 125th and 2nd Avenue, just before the on-ramp to the Tri-Boro in Manhattan.

He was furtive, and more pathetic than menacing.

"You're breaking my heart," he said, when instead of paying him, I said something of the lines of "Man is Mike Bloomberg going to be unhappy to read about you." 



Submitted by Henry Stern (not verified) on Tue, 10/30/2007 - 10:26am.

I do not believe that squeegeeing should be allowed, because some drivers are intimidated into paying, and some squeegees are dirtier than the windows they are supposed to be cleaning. Mayor Giuliani was responsible for removing them, and Mayor Bloomberg is, in general, keeping that up.

I wonder, though, whether you should have accepted the service before declining to pay and saying that you would bring the matter to the attention of the Mayor. When approached, I always wave my left hand in a gesture indicating to the squeegee man that his services are not wanted.

If he persists after this clear message, I feel no obligation to pay. You did not indicate whether you had waved him off or not, assuming that you did not, we can assume under the rule of the streets, not the courts, that you would accept his service with a large, clean squeegee that you described..

As to his response, "You're breaking my heart," that appears to this observer to be mild, compared to what he might have said in the circumstances. Assuming that his words were tinged with sarcasm, they still fall within reasonable bounds of propriety.

I agree that we should not have squeegeemen,and you are right to blog and make an issue of it, so the city can act. I do think, however, that once you accept their services, without any protest, you have an obligation to pay a small amount, depending on how clean they made the windshield, and your mood at the moment.

You are doing a great job on Politico, which I enjoy every day.

 

 

 

 


Submitted by Izengabe (not verified) on Tue, 10/30/2007 - 11:38am.

Sometimes we forget how much Rudy Giuliani changed New York for the better.

If anyone told me in 1993 that 14 years from now spotting a squeegee man on the streets of New York would be a news story I never would have believed it!!!


Submitted by John DeSio (not verified) on Sat, 11/03/2007 - 3:50pm.
They're fewer, but they're still around. I've spotted a few under the Queensboro Bridge, and they tend to congregate at the southbound exit of the Major Deegan at Fordham Road fairly regularly.
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