They were the ultimate symbol of the lawlessness and blight of the 1980s and early 1990s — and now they’re making a comeback.

Squeegee men are menacing motorists across New York City, including spots near the Holland, Lincoln and Queens-Midtown tunnels, as well as the Queensboro Bridge, The Post has learned.

Residents and drivers who pass through the areas said the panhandlers are spraying and wiping windshields without permission to shake down drivers for cash.

Their sudden return is an ominous sign according to the proven “broken windows” theory that has kept the city safe by having cops crack down on minor offenses to prevent bigger, violent crimes.

The Post spotted one of the vagrants working the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 37th Street, where a woman turned on the wipers of her Mercedes-Benz to keep him away.

The glassy-eyed man, who gave his name as Mike Benthins and claimed to be from Philadelphia originally, said he spends about an hour there every other day or so.

“This is a couple of days’ work. About 14 bucks,” he said, displaying a handful of crumpled dollar bills in his filthy, cracked fingers.

Benthins, who has also been seen with a squeegee near Times Square, was using a wadded-up copy of the amNewYork free newspaper as a rag.

While the Daily News is best suited as a squeegee, at $1.25, it’s too expensive!

Maria Berrios, 49, who has lived in Midtown near the Lincoln Tunnel for 30 years, was stunned to see a squeegee man at the corner of Dyer Avenue and West 36th Street about two weeks ago.

“He looked like he learned how to do it way back in the day. He just picked up his bucket and went back to work,” she said.

“I haven’t seen those guys in 20 years. I’m a grandma now — the last time I saw one of them, my kids were in the car.”

“When I seen that one, I was f- -king shocked,” she added, noting he hides his squeegee gear and “pretends to direct traffic” whenever cops come by.

Livery driver German Perez, 43, of Bayside, Queens, said, “I don’t feel secure when I see these guys around.”

“If they come up to my car, and it’s on a dark street, of course, it scares me,” he said.

“Sometimes I’ll have a customer, and I’m trying to get them to the airport as fast as possible, and I have to wait for them to finish cleaning the window.”

“Then sometimes they argue, ‘I’m not getting enough money,’ or I’ll tell them no because the car is really clean, and they’ll still try to do it and then argue with me.

“I wish they would stop.”

Elevator mechanic Robert Bannan, 25, of Marine Park, Brooklyn, said he has seen the squeegee men while driving from job to job.

He wants the city to take action.

“They really have to do something,” he said. “They just gotta nip it in the bud before it becomes a situation that’s out of control and the city gets really bad.”

The resurgence of the squeegee scourge comes despite Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton’s publicly stated support for a continuing crackdown on “quality-of-life” crimes.

Bratton had run the squeegee men out of business during his first stint as top cop under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who branded them a “menace” in his 1993 mayoral campaign.

One of two squeegee men working the Queens side of the Queensboro, or 59th Street, Bridge on Thursday defended his craft.

“Doing it this way is better than going out and selling drugs, sticking people up,” said the man, who wouldn’t give his name.

“I’d rather be doing this than to go back to what I was doing before Giuliani came into office: pimping … selling drugs, all that.”

“I need to pay rent, and this is the best way to do it.”

His pal, who said he pockets $60 a day, insisted, “The reason Giuliani put such a stress on it is because of a couple bad apples in downtown Manhattan who would do something to your car if you didn’t give them money.”

“Over here, we don’t do that,” said the man, who gave only an alias, “Richie Johnson.”

“We’re not doing no harm to your car, no bodily harm. Just trying to get a dollar, 50 cents, a quarter — whatever you can spare.”

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Hagen