RPA mourns the passing of Peter Herman, our longest-serving board member and Chair of the Association from 1997 to 2010. Peter joined RPA as Counsel in 1970 and was elected to the Board in 1987. In recognition of his lifelong service to the association, RPA established the Peter Herman Chair for Transportation in 2018, which Rachel Weinberger, PhD, currently holds.

Peter’s service to RPA spanned many generations, including tense meetings with Robert Moses, Westway, 9/11 and rebuilding Lower Manhattan, and the controversy about how to redevelop Manhattan’s West Side. As Chair, he led the association with openness, integrity, and his customary good humor. We will miss his counsel and know he left the tri-state region a better place.

“It was always a delight to work with Peter as he helped shape RPA’s agenda over decades,” said former RPA President Bob Yaro. ​“Peter’s legacy is a better city and region. We will never forget the important role that he played here.”

“RPA has lost one of its staunchest advocates and most effective champions,” said former RPA President H. Claude Shostal. ​“No one has done more to enhance RPA’s enduring legacy or served longer or more devotedly than Peter Herman. RPA has lost a giant and his friends and colleagues have lost one of the kindest and most decent human beings we will ever know.”