To me, what makes this image intriguing is the combination of several elements: the stairway, the figure on the 3rd floor, the large packages on the ground floor and the man riding the bicycle.
So, maybe I would want to trim the original image a bit less and raise the exposure to be similar to the second image, so long as the background seen on the left side is not bothersome.
Basically I love this somewhat Magritte-like surreal atmosphere.