Shoppers stroll on Lark Street in Albany during a 2020 holiday market event.

Long ago in a gentler time, the biggest problem on Lark Street might have been finding a parking spot. Now, say some businesses on Albany’s funky thoroughfare, it’s crime.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s administration says it’s trying to address the concerns of merchants who warn that fear of shootings and other forms of violence is driving customers away. But some merchants say the city’s current efforts simply aren’t enough.

Whether that’s perception or reality on the part of business owners is in some ways beside the point. If people don’t think an area is safe, employees won’t want to work there, and people in general won’t want to shop, eat and stroll there. So it’s imperative that the city address this, and take seriously the sense among business owners that it needs to do more.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

Concerns about violence certainly seem to have some basis in hard facts. As the Times Union’s Kelsey Brown writes,........

© Times Union