IT'S A WIPE CHRISTMAS By ZACH HABERMAN and MARY ALTAFFER

December 22, 2002 -- They're back!

Despite Mayor Bloomberg's guarantee that quality of life in the Big Apple would not slip back to the bad old days, squeegee men are popping up in lower Manhattan.

Just Friday, a Post photographer captured an example of this pre-Giuliani-era annoyance in action on the corner of Laight and Canal streets.

After washing the rear window of a car stopped at a red light without asking, he approached the driver's-side window to collect payment.

After receiving cash for his efforts, he went on to clean the windshield.

"Have a very happy holiday," said the man, who smiled after accepting $1 for his work.

The squeegee man was alone but working right under the noses of the police.

His corner is only a block and a half away from the 1st Precinct station house.

Squeegee men have long been considered a symbol of urban decay. So much so that former mayor Rudy Giuliani made a signature effort over the last decade to rid the streets of them.

When told about the squeegee man, Ed Skyler, Bloomberg's press secretary, said "give me the location, and we'll have the NYPD out there immediately to arrest him.

"He's breaking the law. The mayor has zero tolerance for quality-of-life crimes," Skyler said.

Just over a month ago, when the mayor announced his budget cuts, he promised they would not affect the quality of life in the city.

"Squeegee guys are not going to come back in this city," he said.

Even with the sighting of the squeegee man, Skyler insists it was an aberration.

"I think it's pretty remarkable that you can get through the year and only see one. That's a testament to the aggressive quality-of-life enforcement by the Police Department," he said.

One of the mayor's first orders of business when he took office in January was to unveil a quality-of-life crime crackdown called "Operation Clean Sweep" with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

Before taking office, the mayor made it clear he would stick to the beliefs held by Giuliani - that curtailing lower-level crimes will help bring down the number of higher-level crimes.

Bloomberg promised to take the "better city that was bequeathed this administration and make it even safer."

Despite the pop-up squeegee appearance, the mayor last week reported that crime in the city is at its lowest level in 30 years.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 2002