Peter W. Herman

HERMAN, Peter Windley, a resident of Scarsdale, NY, died on February 19, 2023, at the age of 78. The cause was metastatic pancreatic cancer. Peter was the eldest child of his late parents, Alexander and Sarah Windley Herman. He is survived by his devoted wife of 38 years, Alice Harvey Herman, their daughter, Caroline, of Miami, and their son, Peter, Jr., of Chicago.

Peter was born and raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, and he graduated from George Washington HS in 1961. In his youth, Peter was active in the Boy Scouts, and he was proud to have been an Eagle Scout, to have received the God and Country Award from the Collegiate Church and to have served as an aquatics counselor at the Ten Mile River Scout Camps for several years. Peter attended Columbia College and graduated in 1965. Following his graduation, Peter served as an officer in the US Navy, first aboard the USS Hermitage (LSD 34), an amphibious dock landing ship in the Atlantic fleet, and subsequently on the operations staff of Commander-In-Chief, US Atlantic Command (CINCLANT.) Peter left active service in 1967 with the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade.) Peter then attended Columbia Law School from which he graduated, c.l., in 1970. After law school, Peter became an associate at the firm now known as Milbank LLP, the law firm at which he went on to spend his entire legal career, as an associate, partner and, following his retirement, as a consulting partner.

At Milbank, Peter was deeply involved in the representation of the Rockefeller family in real estate matters. Most particularly, he represented David Rockefeller and his family in their numerous real estate investment and development projects. Peter perhaps is best remembered for his more than three decades as a principal lawyer in the development and financing of Embarcadero Center in San Francisco. Peter was the head of the Milbank real estate department for more than eighteen years starting in 1991. He also is remembered by generations of Milbank lawyers and staff for his leadership of the firm’s theater group, the Milkweed Mighty Art Players, and his many on stage roles. Peter additionally took delight in being the partner liaison with Milbank’s lawyer alumni, a position that he originated and held

for twenty-five years. Peter was active in the City Bar Association in his younger years, as a member of its Municipal Affairs Committee and as the Chair of its Committee on Transportation, and he was a long-time member of the Urban Land Institute. Peter served as outside counsel to each of the Alliance for Downtown New York and the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association, and he was given the Association’s award for forty years of service in 2012.

Peter’s most significant contribution to community service was to the metropolitan region through his long-standing commitment to Regional Plan Association. Peter began his involvement with RPA as its outside counsel following his law school graduation in 1970 and was its longest continuously serving board member. In 2010, after thirteen years’ service as RPA’s chair, he was given the organization’s lifetime achievement award, and RPA subsequently established an endowed chair in Peter’s memory. After retirement from active law practice, Peter served as treasurer and vestry member of the Episcopal Church of St. James the Less in Scarsdale.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 13, at 11AM at St. James, 10 Church Lane in Scarsdale. Reception to follow in the Parish Hall. Gifts in Peter’s memory may be made to the Peter W. Herman endowment, Regional Plan Association, One Whitehall St., New York, NY 10004.