A Window-Washing Service on Two Wheels | NY Times

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Phil Prado, who owns a one-person window-washing service business, said he likes working outside because he gets to talk with clients and people on the street.Credit

Julie Glassberg for The New York Times

“Dirty windows are bad for business,” said Phil Prado, 50, giving the rationale for his own business: a one-man, two-wheeled window-washing service that has him pedaling around downtown and Midtown Manhattan.

Mr. Prado uses a bicycle because his customers are often only a few blocks apart in areas where the traffic is as bad as the parking.

Because he lives on Staten Island near the ferry terminal, he said, it’s a snap to bring the bike over three mornings a week — he typically works only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

He is a familiar sight on the street as he rides with a five-gallon bucket of soapy water hanging from his handlebars and an extendable pole under his seat, tied to the crossbar with his chamois window rag.

“I like what I do because I have no boss, I’m working outside and I get to conversate with clients and everyone on the street,” Mr. Prado said as he pedaled along Hudson Street one recent weekday, wearing a blue windbreaker bearing his company name, Squeaky Clean Windows Inc., and his cellphone number.

He stopped at Puffy’s Tavern, extended the pole all 18 feet and affixed the spongelike wand soaked with soapy water.

Pointing to some smudges on the windows, he said, “Wherever you have sports on TV, you have people leaning up against the glass outside to watch — that’s why sports bars have the dirtiest windows.”

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