Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins talks to the media about a murder on Delaware Avenue on Tuesday.

Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins talks to the media about a murder on Delaware Avenue on Tuesday in Albany.

ALBANY — If you’re worried about safety in a city plagued by gun violence, Police Chief Eric Hawkins has a recommendation: Gather only with small groups of people you know.

Call it the agoraphobic approach to crime prevention, and perhaps, in a way, it’s decent enough advice. The problem is that large gatherings and mixing with strangers are what make a city wonderful. Without them, you have a dead city. You might as well live in East Podunk.

Say goodbye to Tulip Fest and Lark Fest. Don’t go to church or school. Eat lunch at your desk instead of West Capitol Park. It’s a dreary existence, surely. But it’s a safe one, at least until the existential misery of loneliness takes its inevitable toll.

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I am, admittedly, being a bit unfair to Albany’s nice-guy chief. His comments about gatherings came after six teens were wounded last week at a Fourth of July party, and, as department spokesperson Megan Craft confirmed, he was talking about that kind of an event.........

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