Greg (Grover) Washington, squeegee king of New York, gets slap on wrist for 186th arrest

Squeegee man Greg (Grover) Williams is placed under arrest at the intersections of 37th street and 3rd Ave.

The squeegee king of New York got another slap on the wrist Wednesday after he pleaded guilty - yet again - to being a public nuisance.

Greg (Grover) Washington, who has been arrested 186 times, didn't have much to say when he was hauled before a Manhattan Criminal Court judge.

Wearing the grubby jeans, lace-less work boots and the colorful plaid shirt he was wearing when he was arrested, Washington gave one-word answers to the judge's questions.

"Yes," Washington said when asked if he understood he was pleading guilty to aggressive solicitation, which is a misdemeanor.

"No," he replied when asked if he had anything else to say.

Then Washington, 37, was marched off to jail, which is likely to be an improvement over his current living conditions.

"He's homeless," his court-appointed lawyer, Weldon Brewer, said.

Washington has 34 convictions on his rap sheet, including two felonies - one for criminal possession of a weapon in 1994, the other for dealing drugs. He was also arrested at least twice as a juvenile, records show.

"I don't know if he's mentally ill or not," said Brewer, who declined to comment when asked if Washington has a drug problem.

In theory, Brewer said, Washington is supposed to have received social services aimed at reforming him.

"It doesn't work well in real life, as we know," he added. "And there has to be some degree of cooperation."

Washington was busted Tuesday in Murray Hill after cops caught him hassling drivers for money after cleaning their windows on Third Ave. at E. 37th St.

Lt. Patrick Heraghty, the commanding officer of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly's Quality of Life Unit, arrived minutes later and recognized Washington right away.

"He's the No. 1 guy in New York City," Heraghty said. "He goes up and squeegees ... and when he doesn't get paid, he breaks the windshield wiper or assaults the driver."

More than half of Washington's arrests were for cleaning windshields and then shaking down drivers for cash, police said.

The Daily News reported last month that small crews of squeegee men were beginning to pop up around the city. The resurgence comes more than a decade after Mayor Rudy Giuliani pushed them out during a crackdown in the 1990s.

Mayor Bloomberg, in response to The News exclusive, said the NYPD will aggressively fight to keep them off the street.