On Sept. 2 the Key West Housing Authority hosted the official sign unveiling for the newly renamed Lang Milian Apartments at White and Eaton streets. The event included relatives of Milian, housing authority board members, staff and distinguished members of the community who all came to honor former Key West City Commissioner Lang Milian.
He was the second black man elected to the Key West city commission in 1971.
Formerly and for decades known as the JY Porter Place housing complex, the apartments were renamed in light of verified concerns about Porter’s connections to the Ku Klux Klan in Key West.
Key West’s first black city commissioner, Robert Gabriel, was elected in the first decade of the 1900s. A public housing complex in Bahama Village bears his name.
Randy Sterling, executive director of the Key West Housing Authority, said at the renaming ceremony, “The new name of this housing complex honors a man who served this community with honor and integrity and stood for people across the entire island, including working families. It is so fitting that his name now graces the fence that protects this property.”
Housing Authority chairman Johnny Parks said, “Our vision is to take this property, which has served our community’s affordable housing needs for decades, and provide newer, safer, eco-conscious housing. Today we honor Lang Milian with the new sign with his name, and tomorrow we honor him by building a new complex to house more residents in a better way.”
Annette Milian Mobley, daughter of Lang Milian, currently serves on the Key West Housing Authority Board as the resident commissioner, continuing her father’s legacy.
