There was a celebration Saturday at a vacant lot Downtown that long ago should have been used for desperately needed housing. But rather than toasting the continuation of the Elizabeth Street Garden, the revelers were actually cheering the triumph of local parochial politics over the greater public good.

The city-owned parcel, where a public school had been demolished in the 1970s, is one acre on the west side of Elizabeth St. between Prince and Spring Sts., running out to Mott St. In city property records it is known as Block 493, Lot 30 and the owner is the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, meaning it’s been slated for housing.

Starting in 1991, the empty lot was leased on a monthly basis to the late gallery operator Allan Reiver, who used it as a private........

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