Car Wash? Twenty bucks. Cash.

from Sandra Garcia's piece in New York Times today on freelance car-washers of Upper Manhattan:
On a record-breaking 68-degree January day, New Yorkers were unnerved, enjoying the weather and wary of what it meant. But for the guerrilla carwash guys of Upper Manhattan, it was only good news. As of 11 a.m. that Saturday, there were at least six carwashes set up on Ninth Avenue from 201st Street to 207th, with numerous Fords, BMWs and a Toyota already soaped up, and more were waiting.

For as long as anyone can remember, there has been a thriving cottage industry, operating out of vans and without conveyor belts, mechanized brushes or complicated hydraulic systems, along an industrial stretch near the Harlem River in Inwood.

“Park right here so I can wash it for you,” a car washer said in her raspy voice to a car that had pulled up. The driver crept to her, then sped off. There would be others.

The car washers are there every day of the year, rain or shine, and a full-service wash, inside and out, will run you $20.This off-the-books economy is, strictly speaking, not legal. But it is crucial to dozens of residents from Inwood and the Bronx, many of them recent immigrants.Each carwash operates with informal teams of two to four people. When a customer stops, a symphony of tasks begins: One person dunks two large giant sponges into a bucket and soaps down the roof of the car, the doors, hood and the trunk by hand. Another person rinses the car with a hose with a power-washer attached to it. Another pulls out the car mats and hoses them down until they glint in the light. The exterior of the car is usually done in 10 minutes or less.

As reliable as they are, the carwashes are threatened by future development. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has opened this area to rezoning. A 27-story apartment building is part of the proposal being considered.Until then, there’s not much for the car washers to do but keep washing cars...