From Donald to now: 511 E. Fifth St., 1B

Last month, we wrote about Donald Baumgartner, a longtime East Village resident who was evicted from his East Fifth Street apartment... Neil Janowitz, one of Donald's former neighbors, had continued to stay in touch with Donald, who's now living at East Haven Nursing Home in the Bronx.

Donald had lived at 511 E. Fifth Street since 1967. As Neil described:

"His place in 511 was a trip. Like a time warp. No one had renovated it in two or three decades, so it had a bathtub in the kitchen, two interior bedrooms with windows that looked out on the living room and lots of built-in cabinets and trunks. The floor was so badly worn that you could see various layers/flooring styles dating back an unknowable amount of time."

A few days after Donald was evicted by the landlord, Neil shot some video of the apartment... and last week Neil went back to see what the apartment looked like now...



(Uh, apparently the video isn't appearing in some browsers. You can go directly to the source here.)

I understand that Donald was paying $700 a month for rent... will be curious what this two-bedroom apartment will go for after the extensive renovations...

Previously:
Donald is well and missing the East Village