‘Squeegee kids’: A sign of a city’s decline, or a path to something better?

By Ben Terzi
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer

As brakes squeal and cars stop at the intersection of President and Pratt, four young men spring up from a trash-littered median. They walk down the busy street with Windex and squeegees in their hands.

A driver screams through his rolled-up window as one of the young men washes his front windshield. With no dollar to spare, the light changes green and traffic continues down President Street.

“Squeegee kids” have become a reflection of Baltimore’s economic decline and a symptom of an ever-growing poverty rate. While squeegee kids spark annoyance from drivers and confusion for law enforcement, Baltimore’s leaders struggle to address the situation.

“It’s an honest hustle,” said James Johnson, a 20-year-old squeegee kid. “We make a pretty decent amount of money out here.”

Johnson resides at Perkins Homes, a public housing complex between Fells Point and Little Italy. He and other squeegee kids say drivers do not understand how washing windshields can help them pursue aspirations they otherwise cannot afford.

“I do music,” Johnson said. “So everything I make out here I put into studio time.”

In a city where one in five people live in poverty, squeegee kids say what they do is a necessity.

“No one wants to become a squeegee boy,” said Antonio McKenzie, a 25-year-old Baltimore native who washes windows on Pratt Street.

McKenzie works as a security guard for Global International Security. On his days off, he comes to Pratt Street with a spray bottle and a squeegee to make a little extra cash.

“I don’t consider myself as a squeegee boy,” McKenzie said. “I consider myself as a person who actually needs something and he go out and get it.”

Tension over the squeegee kids has risen and fallen like a roller coaster over the years. Community outrage is often triggered by reports of kicked car doors and thrown spray bottles.

“All we do is trying to wash your window,” Johnson said. “But I’m not gonna lie, sometimes we’re not perfect on our behalf.”

Squeegee kids say they feel as though they are an afterthought—rather than a result—of Baltimore’s significant wealth inequality. In a city where white households make twice the income of Black households, squeegee kids say city leaders could care less.

“To be honest, I don’t think the government give a f—,” said Johnson. “I don’t think they care about us. As far as they know, we just squeegee boys.” 

In 2017, former mayor Catherine Pugh created the Squeegee Corps program, providing jobs at city-sanctioned car washes. However, few registered and the program dissolved prior to her 2019 resignation.

That year, former mayor Jack Young began to establish the Squeegee Alternative Plan, which was delayed due to the city’s Covid-19 pandemic response.

“It’s a cyclical thing and the city has tried different things—the remote car washes, job programs,” said John Strobel, a local electrical engineer. “Baltimore is a struggling city, so funding isn’t the best.”

Seeing the potential in squeegee kids, Strobel decided to create Bmore Squeegee, a website where window washers can receive tips from drivers virtually.

“You’re not gonna solve all the problems but what can you do?” Strobel said. “Let them keep getting tips but let the website be another channel of revenue for them.”

Squeegee kids can sign up to become ambassadors for BmoreSqueegee and are given identification cards. They can hand drivers their ID cards so drivers can virtually tip squeegee kids without handing them physical money.

Meanwhile, the Mayor’s Office of African American Male Engagement is currently working to implement the delayed Squeegee Alternative Plan.

The Squeegee Alternative Plan feature a mentorship program and skill-building services, according to the office’s spokesperson.

But for now, some of Baltimore’s youth still remains on busy intersections, providing a simple service of washing a windshield.

“From the outside looking in, it looks like we’re not doing much,” Johnson said. “But if I can provide a service for you by having your window clean then why not?”