The Fourth of July fireworks should be one of Albany’s great annual events, a feel-good night of celebration and community. It should be a day when Albany asserts itself as the center of the region, the place you want to be.
But this year’s Fourth ended up being something far different: a night of violence and chaos, a black eye, a symbol of the ways the city is broken.
Four people, including a 64-year-old woman, were shot a block from where thousands gathered Friday for the Empire State Plaza fireworks. The four were bystanders, people whose only mistake was heading out to celebrate the holiday…