04/08/2018

http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/03/07/the-death-and-life-of-a-great-american-building/

Koehler sees patients who might not otherwise find a clinician in private practice. Some are homeless. One of them slept on Broadway, right outside the building, and was always welcomed in by the security guard. “This was the kind of place where I could see people like that,” Koehler says. “I’ve been able to see poor people in my practice because my rent wasn’t high.” “I love the people in the building,” she says. “It’s not corporate. It feels human.” Like other tenants, she describes the St. Denis as an exception, a staunch holdout against the rising tide of hyper-capitalism in the city. “What we’re all doing here is taking care of other people,” Garde says. “We’re all trying to make a better world. People come here with their stories and open up to tell those stories. It’s big. This building has so much energy inside its walls. And that energy is shaking.”