Frank and Faye Riley, an elderly couple who manage an apartment building and café in the East Village, Manhattan, come under threat by a nearby property development. The development manager, Lacey, sends a hoodlum named Carlos and his gang of thugs to bribe the couple and their tenants to move out. When the tenants resist, Carlos and his thugs punch through artist Mason Baylor's door, intimidate pregnant single mother Marisa Esteval, and break retired boxer Harry Noble's jar of tiles. After Frank Riley refuses to move, Carlos vandalizes the café.