Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Poor people aren't exactly starving in the streets here. If you want to see real poverty, try visiting rural China. The "poor" here are still being alloted generous food stamp allowances, Section 8, TANF, and many of them are carrying cell-phones and have cable tv and AC. This is mainly a working person, middle class recession. If some scum-bag doesn't keep his hands off my personal property after being told not to, he is going be tased.
I agree. As Fox News told us recently a shocking 99% of poor people in this country have a fridge at home. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Who do they think they are? Wanting to live in dignity with a device that keeps their milk fresh? As the losers of our perfectly free economic market they shouldn't even be entitled to sleep in the street since it is my tax money that goes into maintaining them.
The day our friends from the Tea Party will finally have abolished all taxes and our streets and parks will be mere rubble no one takes care for only then will these leeches be allowed to roam them. Until then, stop complaining and move to the Kosovo if you want to see real poverty!
Do you think it would matter if squeegemen were professionally dressed and provided a professional service on the street corner, or at certain points in the city? Or would you just ban them anyway.
I think if they were made legit and found a place in certain parts of the city, I don't think it would be bad. But the way they currently operate is the problem.
If their intention was to provide a a quality service with pride instead of using it as a vehicle of intimidation to solicit money, then I'd be ok with it.
I'm sure squeegie men first started off as a legitimate service, but over time it was just became another way to beg for money.
They were the ultimate symbol of the lawlessness and blight of the 1980s and early 1990s — and now they’re making a comeback.
Squeegee men are menacing motorists across New York City, including spots near the Holland, Lincoln and Queens-Midtown tunnels, as well as the Queensboro Bridge.
Residents and drivers who pass through the areas said the panhandlers are spraying and wiping windshields without permission to shake down drivers for cash.
Their sudden return is an ominous sign according to the proven “broken windows” theory that has kept the city safe by having cops crack down on minor offenses to prevent bigger, violent crimes.
They were the ultimate symbol of the lawlessness and blight of the 1980s and early 1990s — and now they’re making a comeback.
Squeegee men are menacing motorists across New York City, including spots near the Holland, Lincoln and Queens-Midtown tunnels, as well as the Queensboro Bridge.
Residents and drivers who pass through the areas said the panhandlers are spraying and wiping windshields without permission to shake down drivers for cash.
Their sudden return is an ominous sign according to the proven “broken windows” theory that has kept the city safe by having cops crack down on minor offenses to prevent bigger, violent crimes.
It's not an ominous sign. For crying out loud they are just trying to make a buck. In case you didn't know, many of them are ex-cons w/ lengthy prison records. Ex cons are basically unemployable, since most "legal" jobs typically weed out those with felonies.
Squeegees return as New York City is awash in windshield swipers in sign of (desperate) times Return of squeegees
Squeegee men, the aggressive panhandlers who wash your car windows whether you want them to or not, are back.
Armed with buckets and $5 squeegees, a squad of men waded into stalled Times Square traffic Sunday to lather up windshields, swipe them clean and beckon for tips from drivers - some annoyed by the intrusion.
A rare sight when the country's unemployment rate was a mere 5.7%, the reappearance of the crews is an in-your-windshield reminder of 9%-plus unemployment and the highest rate of poverty in 27 years.
For some, they're a powerful symbol that the busted economy is bringing back the bad old days.
I gotta say, it does seem like the ole days are coming back. A little anyways. Just this Saturday, my GF and I were in Downtown in Fulton St. Mall and Flatbush Ave when we saw two men with carboard boxes flipped upside down being used as a table to play that guessing game with bottle caps and cards with a crowd around them.
Much to her chagrin she had never seen that before, and was pretty shocked by it. I gotta say for myself, I was a little shocked too because I lived in the area for years before moving out and hadn't seen it in at least 10 years.
This sort of goes along with the thread about the city decaying. Has anyone noticed things like this as of late?
What a bunch of usual fear mongering junk from the post. Why don't they expose real lawlessness and criminality like tax evading corporations? Instead they have to show an impoverished, desperate black man looking to make a few bucks.
America is really sickening
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
That's what happens when you vote socialist DemocRATs into office.
