Editing Squeegee man (section)

===United States===
In [[New York City]] in the 1980s, the usual procedure would involve groups of squeegee men surrounding cars stopped in traffic. Although some merely provided a service, in other cases the windshield-washing would be carried out without asking, often perfunctorily, and with subsequent demands for money, sometimes with added threats of smashing the car's windshield. Upon his election, mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]] famously sought to remove squeegee men from the streets<ref>Kevin Drum, ''America's Real Criminal Element: Lead'' January/February 2013 Issue, "[https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline]", visited 8 Jan 2013</ref> 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 did not reappear in significant numbers.

Squeegee men were among the first targeted by Mayor [[Rudolph Giuliani]] and Commissioner [[William Bratton]]. In his book ''[[Leadership (book)|Leadership]]'', Giuliani explained that his method of removing the squeegee men from the street involved arresting them. Patrolmen who first made the arrests saw that the squeegee men were released immediately, because according to the New York penal code at the time, cleaning someone's windshield was not illegal. Giuliani told the officers that if they saw any more squeegee men they should simply arrest them for [[jaywalking]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Giuliani's Legacy: Taking Credit For Things He Didn't Do |url=http://www.gothamgazette.com/commentary/91.barrett.shtml |work=[[Gotham Gazette]] |author=Wayne Barrett}}</ref>

Squeegee men (or "squeegee boys" for younger examples) remain prevalent in Baltimore, Maryland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/baltimore-squeegee-kids-find-work-risks-cash-stoplights-69304846|title=Baltimore squeegee kids find work, risks, cash at stoplights|website=ABC News}}</ref>