There's now a street named after the former owner of one of the first black-owned radio stations in New York State. Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and other area officials on Wednesday unveiled "Andrew Langston Way," a new street near the Midtown Rising redevelopment project.
Langston founded WDKX radio in 1974 and died in 2010. His widow, Gloria Langston, notes that while the station helped get information to the black community, it really served the entire city.
“My husband’s dream was to create a radio station that would benefit the community, a place where people could get information, and share information and have a voice.”
Langston's son, Andre, notes that Xerox founder Joseph Wilson allowed the station to put up its antenna on top of the Xerox Tower building downtown.
“He was an associate of my dad, and agreed that the station was what Rochester needed for the black community and offered the Xerox tower to house the antenna and it’s right behind Midtown right now, as long as the station was on the air, so if you ever go by and you see a three bay antenna.”
The new street begins at East Main Street opposite the Liberty Pole and runs south to Elm Street.
