Squeegee
24" x 36", mixed media.

In the pre-Mayor Guiliani days of
New York City, one could find a busy
street corner commandeered by men
who would clean car windows.
Before they were criminalized by the
current Mayor, they were the most
visible of the street's entrepreneurs.
Able to live off the land, the
squeegee guys could sustain
themselves with a quick bite
to eat from the spare change they
had made. Competition
is fierce in New York's capitalistic
free market. For being bottom
feeders and publicly competitive, the
eradication of the squeegee guys
became an easy accomplishment
for a new Mayor trying to focus on
the City's "major" urban problems.
They were promptly
cleared from the streets under threat
of arrest. The Mayor was lauded for
averting what was portrayed as a
crisis...
after all, weren't they just trying
to compete like the big boys?
© sol robbins

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