Sunday, July 19, 2015

NYC once again on the decline. Liberalism's faux compassion.

Squeegee man is city’s latest blast from the past

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Squeegee man in Brooklyn
“The cops in this precinct don’t bother me,” this squeegee man said as he worked in Brooklyn, blocking cars of unwilling customers.
Paul Martinka
Add squeegee men to the city’s list of blast-from-the-past ­problems.
A rag-wielding panhandler annoyed drivers at the intersection of Nostrand and Atlantic avenues throughout the afternoon Saturday, capping a week of rampant quality-of-life problems exposed by The Post.
“The cops in this precinct don’t bother me,” the man, who gave his name as “Jim,” told a reporter as he used a dingy brown rag to rub at the windows of angry ­drivers.
Indeed, two squad cars passed by and did nothing as he worked between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m.
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Photo: Paul Martinka
Peaceful panhanding is legal. But then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani signed a law in 1996 that specifically targeted squeegee pests by outlawing aggressive panhandling — defined as begging that threatens, blocks someone’s path or involves physical contact.
Squeegee Man Jim would block the cars of his unwilling customers, smiling and mumbling all the while as he lifted their windshield wipers and wiped away with his filthy rag, a process ­unaided by the presence any cleaning fluid.
“I’m all business, no play,” said the industrious worker, who collected about seven or eight dollars from grudging drivers, approximately minimum wage.
“I come here when I wake up,” he said. “I just wipe cars, wipe cars.”
For the past week, The Post has been cataloguing the apparent ­resurgance of a host of vintage quality-of-life offenses, among them public urination and drinking, and aggressive panhandling.
Mayor de Blasio has gone on rec­ord as favoring so-called “Broken Windows” policing, which cracks down on quality-of life offenses.
Still, police, park-goers and parks employees report a rise of squatters and accompanying nuisance issues.

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