Albany

And the vandalism continues.

The ink was barely dry on my recent column on petty property damage in Albany when reports arrived about more of the same.

This time, the victims were Jen and Mike Guidice, owners of Hounds on the Hudson. Jen and Mike just moved their pet-care business into a beautifully renovated storefront across from Washington Park. Hounds on the Hudson is a homegrown Albany success story, and the new location should be nothing but a feel-good story.

But on Saturday morning, the Guidices found trees pulled from two planters they'd placed at the front of the Madison Avenue store. One was resting atop a nearby car.

The couple replanted the trees, but the effort didn't last. On Tuesday morning, Jen and Mike discovered that one of the planters had been smashed overnight. It must have been a two-person job because the containers are seriously heavy.

Crime of the century? Of course not.

But the vandalism is just another example of the mindless destruction that breeds deep frustration in parts of Albany. The damage may seem unimportant in a city with bigger crime problems, yet the vandalism brings a serious consequence: It discourages investment.

"I don't want to make improvements to our property if people are just going to destroy them," said Martin Daley, who was featured in my Sunday column after someone snapped his family's new cherry tree.

Daley and his wife, Jennifer Ceponis, live in Pine Hills, where college students are responsible for much of the vandalism. Others in the neighborhood read the column and told me the couple's experience is hardly isolated.

"We're hanging on by a thread because of all the nonsense from the college students," said a woman who has lived on Yates Street for 63 years. "The only reason we haven't left is that we're financially unable to do so."

A resident of Myrtle Avenue, meanwhile, said she awoke last week to the noise of college kids dragging a bench on her front porch. When the vandals realized the bench was chained, they went to a neighbor's porch, where they found a walker they could toss to the street.

Ah, the quintessential collegiate experience: football games, all-night study sessions and destroying walkers used by senior citizens. It's true what they say: College really is a special time of life.

It isn't clear that students are responsible for the damage at Hounds on the Hudson. The storefront at 472 Madison is near Lark Street, though, so it's safe to assume alcohol was involved. (Other vegetation on the block was also vandalized.)

Mike and Jen, who are from Long Island and Philadelphia, respectively, are trying not to make too much of the incidents.

They're passionate about their adopted hometown, where they're raising three children in the Mansion District. The city has nurtured their business and lives, and they're not ready to let petty stupidity overshadow that.

Plus, vandalism is hardly unique to Albany. Just look north toward Troy, where police have spent too much of the summer chasing folks who think it's fun to decapitate Uncle Sam statues. Last week, in a wooded area, police even found the patriotic fellow's head stuffed in a black plastic bag.

Uncle Sam, it turns out, has creepy enemies.

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But I digress. The Guidices are hoping their new storefront, once occupied by the Historic Albany Foundation, will boost the visibility of their dog-walking and pet-sitting business. They sell a few retail items there, including pet food, but mostly use the space as a new headquarters. (Full disclosure: Hounds on the Hudson has occasionally looked after the cat and two dogs at my house.)

The store is an attractive addition to the neighborhood. But the missing planter and its tree won't be replaced. What would be the point?

That hints at why Albany's vandalism is a worrisome problem. Hundreds of other home and store owners have probably decided that little beautification attempts would only make appealing targets. They won't grow the flowers that might get ripped out. They won't paint the wall that could get hit by graffiti.

The result is an uglier city. An uglier city, in turn, inspires less civic pride. Less pride brings more petty property destruction.

Vandalism is a spiral, and it doesn't lead anywhere good.

cchurchill@timesunion.com • 518-454-5700 • @chris_churchill