Berman founded Park East Animal Hospital in 1961 (Google Maps)
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Lewis Berman, the longtime Upper East Side veterinarian whose clients ranged from everyday New Yorkers to some of the most famous names in politics, fashion, and entertainment, died on Dec. 16 at his Upper East Side home. He was 90.
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Dr. Berman founded Park East Animal Hospital in 1961, opening the practice at 52 East 64th Street at a time when the neighborhood was already home to diplomats, cultural figures, and wealthy families deeply devoted to their pets. The hospital—now located on Second Avenue between 71st and 72nd streets—remains a fixture on the Upper East Side more than six decades later.
The original location (Google Maps)
Over the course of his career, Dr. Berman became known as a veterinarian to the stars, treating animals belonging to figures such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Andy Warhol, Henry Kissinger, Lauren Bacall, Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren, Betty White, and Ivana Trump, among many others. Yet friends and colleagues emphasized that he approached celebrity and non-celebrity clients with equal care.
“He was the quintessential local vet,” Jim Kelly, a former editor of Time magazine and a friend, told the NY Times, noting that the “local” part simply happened to be one of Manhattan’s most high-profile neighborhoods.
Dr. Berman’s path to veterinary medicine began in childhood, inspired by a veterinarian who successfully treated one of his family’s pets. Although he once imagined himself as a country doctor caring for farm animals, practical limitations steered him toward small-animal practice.
His reputation grew largely through word of mouth. He made house calls when needed and earned a reputation for calm, compassionate bedside manner, even during emergencies. Michael Kotlikoff, president of Cornell University and a former dean of its College of Veterinary Medicine, told the Times that Dr. Berman’s greatest gift was his ability to connect with people as much as animals.
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Dr. Berman sold Park East Animal Hospital in 2012 and retired in 2016, though his influence remained embedded in the practice he built. He frequently wrote and spoke about the emotional bond between people and their pets, once observing that animals can alter human moods in measurable, physiological ways.Born in the Bronx in 1935 and raised in Upper Manhattan, Dr. Berman graduated from Stuyvesant High School, earned degrees from Cornell University, and served as a U.S. Air Force veterinarian in Okinawa, Japan. An avid music lover and former clarinetist, he once said that, had he not become a veterinarian, he might have pursued a career in music.
Dr. Berman is survived by his wife, Amanda Berman, two daughters, and four grandchildren. While he owned many pets over the years, none outlived him—a reality he once described as the hardest part of being a veterinarian.
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