Eric Alexander is the director of Vision Long Island, the area’s downtown planning organization.
Eric has over 30 years of experience in housing, transportation, community development and coordinating community projects.
Specifically, Eric has advanced downtown planning, infrastructure investment, and mixed-use development through lobbying at the federal, state, and county levels while working with municipalities to develop and implement smart growth policies, regulations, and projects.
His work at Vision Long Island has resulted in over 150 downtown and infrastructure projects supporting over 17,000 units of Transit Oriented Development across LI.
In 2019, Eric founded the LI Main Street Alliance, which represents 45 downtowns across Long Island and has been an advocate for local businesses, assisting them with accessing public grant dollars through the Coronavirus recovery as well as planning and lobbying for downtown grants.
In 2021, Eric became the host of LI Main Street News, an internet-based TV show that has interviewed over 700 local community, business, and government leaders. The show now hits the road to promote downtowns and events around Long Island that strengthen our communities.
In 2002, Eric organized Long Island’s first Smart Growth Awards event and led its first Smart Growth Summit. The summit, now held annually, had over 1,300 attendees before the Coronavirus and develops a policy agenda for downtown redevelopment and infrastructure.
Over the last 25 years, Eric has made over 3,500 individual and group presentations in nearly 75 Long Island communities but, most importantly, listened to communities at over 10,000 meetings.
In 2012 Eric organized the LI Complete Streets Summit and the LI Complete Streets Coalition to help create safer streets for pedestrians and bicyclists.
To date, six towns, two counties, and New York State have passed legislation for safer roadways, with 40 traffic calming projects under construction or completed.
In 2009, Eric co-chaired the LI Lobby Coalition, which brought community voices to Albany and Washington from over 100 environmental, labor, small business, civic, and human service organizations. As a result of this annual coalition effort, over 50 pieces of legislation and budget items were passed and have come to Long Island.
In 2020, Eric partnered with the Pink Tie Foundation to form the Pink Tie Delivers program to bring food and financial assistance to local food pantries across Long Island. To date over 275 deliveries have been made to 55 pantries from Greenport to Valley Stream.
Since joining Vision Long Island, Eric has been working to support proactive land use planning decisions through the use of community visioning and other progressive planning techniques.
Eric has led visioning processes and technical support in over 30 communities, resulting in a community plan and varying planning and construction stages. He has worked on regional planning projects surrounding NYSERDA’s Cleaner Greener Grants program, New York State CRP planning and grants program, Nassau HUB, Long Island 2035, Brookhaven 2030 and the Federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
Eric has been listed as one of Long Island’s 60 most influential leaders and 100 most influential leaders by the Long Island Business News for three years running, Top Business Leader by Blank Slate Media for two years running and was featured on the cover of Corridor magazine.
He was also listed on the Power List for the LI Press and, in 2024, honored by the Hispanic Brotherhood. In 2022, Eric was honored by the LI African American Chamber of Commerce, Hempstead Community Land Trust, and the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce, Corporate Citizenship Award by the LI Business News in 2021;LI Business News Hall of Fame designation in 2017; Hollywood Baptist Church Martin Luther King Jr. “Leadership” Award 2016, EHS of LI for a “Social Justice Leaders” Award in 2016, “Gotham Green” Award in 2016; LISTnet small business award in 2015; 100 Black Men of Long Island in 2015; “Founders Day” Award by the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island 2014; LI Real Estate “Leadership” Award by the LI Business News, 2013, “Long Island Achievement Award” by Public Relations Professionals of Long Island in 2013; Voted “Person of the Year,” Northport Patch in 2012; “Leader who makes a Difference” by the Hauppauge Industrial Association in 2011, “Business of the Year” by the Hicksville Chamber of Commerce in 2010, a “Graduate of Distinction” by Leadership Huntington in 2010, Sustainable Development Award by the LIPC in 2008, community planning Award by the American Planning Association NY Chapter in 2008, Businessperson of the Year by the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce in 2005, the LI Business News 40 under 40 in 2003 and the LI Alliance Kairos Award in 1990.
What advice would you give business leaders?
We live in an era when public trust is at an all-time low, and building back trust is a huge currency.
This trust gap runs concurrently with extreme polarization, which makes reaching common ground a massive undertaking.
Towards that end, it is best to avoid the three deadly characteristics and excesses—narcissism, greed, and power-mad and controlling behavior. Lots of listening, trust building, collaboration, and time are the antidote to these deadly trends.
