East Fifth bliss? Looking at the new apartments at 343 E. Fifth St.

Last March, I wrote about 343 E. Fifth St., the apartment building between First Avenue and Second Avenue that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss" (and coming soon to a theater near you...).

The gut renovations of the former railcar apartments are apparently done, and some of the dorm rooms units are on the market from our good friends at 9300 Realty/Croman Real Estate Inc. Let's take a look at what's available starting March 1.

To help attract the usual high-paying, quick-turnover renters in the market for three- and four-bedroom apartments, they'll even toss in a free month's rent.

There are all sorts of stories about the tenants — many of whom lived here for decades — being forced out here. A lot of it was hearsay, of course.

Last March, "East Fifth Bliss" author Douglas Light, who lived at 343 E. Fifth St. for several years, told me in an e-mail:

"My wife actually ran into an old tenant from there ... and he was telling her some wild stories about $250k buy-out offers (which he turned down, of course), arson by the building owner (to flush-out the remaining hold-outs), and the police cuffing and perp-walking the owner out of the building. As for the validity of the stories I can't say. This is the same guy who believed my wife was a spy that the owner planted in the building to keep tabs on everyone."

Anyway, speaking of the movie — starring Michael C. Hall, Lucy Liu, Peter Fonda and Slum Goddess — it's done. You can watch a trailer for it on Facebook. The dramatic comedy was filmed around the neighborhood, so there's plenty of locations to recognize...

Previously on EV Grieve:
About the building that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss"

Q-and-A with 'East Fifth Bliss' author Douglas Light