Quality of life
: Gawker makes fun of the NY Post today for warning that the squeegee men are back. “Panhandling is bad,” snarks Gawker, “but panhandling that results in clean windows is apparently worse.”
Well, lemme tell you, the squeegee men are not urban clowns or the hapless homeless; they are derelicts, bums, criminals, thugs.
Almost 11 years ago, I was driving home with my very-pregnant wife at 39th and 8th when squeegee thugs approached to “clean” the windshield. I did what all New Yorkers did (even those with Jersey license plates): I waved them off, turned on the windshield wipers, and moved forward.
And what did they do?
They smashed my car and tried to open the doors and drag us out.
My wife went into premature labor from the stress.
I had to yell at the cops to get them to come and help. They didn’t give a damn.
That is why Rudy Guliani became a hero in this town; that is why David Dinkins was an utter failure. And the Post is quite properly warning Michael Bloomberg not to go Dinkins.
This is not just about quality of life. This is about law and civilization.
And I’ll take the liberty of reminding the Mr. Gawker that he just left San Francisco in part because he couldn’t stand all the bums on the streets there.
The Post is right.
