In New York, when wealthy people find the view of the East River, they build modern apartment buildings to live in fancy apartments in the slums where workers and poor people live in dirty tenements infested of cockroaches. Tommy Gordon is the leader of a gang of urchins and small-time thieves in a dock of the East River formed by Dippy, Angel, Spit and T.B. The new boy in the slums, Milty, wants to join the gang and Tommy accepts him. Tommy's sister, Drina Gordon, is an honest hard worker that has a crush on the down-to-lucky architect Dave Connell and dreams on get married to leave the slums and give a better life to Tommy, avoiding that he becomes a gangster. However, Dave is presently seduced by the ambitious Kay, who lives in a fancy apartment and is the mistress of a wealthy man, but he cannot provide her lifestyle. While working painting the banner of a restaurant, Dave recognizes his former acquaintance Hugh "Baby Face" Martin, who is a notorious gangster wanted for eight murders, that lived in the same street as him. Martin has returned to the slums with the gangster Hunk to see his mother Mrs. Martin and his former sweetheart Francey. However, Mrs. Martin rejects him and wishes him dead and Francey is now a prostitute that is ill. Martin decides to kidnap the wealthy and spoiled boy Philip, who has been beaten and stolen by Tommy and his gang, to make his trip from Colorado to New York worth, affecting the lives of Dave, Drina and the gang of urchins.