A yes vote for once

Long after Brooklyn Councilwoman Darlene Mealy departs her term-limited Brownsville seat in six weeks, the families and formerly homeless people who will move into new affordable apartments should know that when it counted, she exhibited a rare trait for a City Council member. It’s called spine. Her colleagues ought to try it. Until Thursday morning, Mealy had signaled she would remain opposed to zoning changes needed for the nonprofit Breaking Ground to turn a vacant lot into Edwin’s Place — 124 apartments, with social services for tenants who need them.

Toxic Council custom holds that on real estate, the Council has not 51 votes, but only one that counts — the local member’s. Business as usual would have doomed Edwin’s Place — just as member vetoes or threats, fueled by NIMBY forces, have sunk affordable housing plans from Inwood to Sunnyside to Cobble Hill.

Thankfully, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito — prodded by Brooklyn clergy affiliated with the grass-roots group Metro-IAF — made clear how much rode on the outcome. Aid to Mealy’s district entered the equation.

Mealy reconsidered — and committee members followed unanimously.

In a better world, a future Council speaker would abolish the member veto, freeing members to cast each vote on the merits. And members wouldn’t expect district pork in exchange for doing the right thing.

But in the meantime, stars aligned to take the wrong process to the right place.