On the stoops of the Bronx in the 1960s, gang warfare reigns supreme. Here, it’s all about the streets and who owns them. The story is narrated by Calogero who tells us how he witnessed the murder of a man on the street in front of his Belmont Avenue home as a young boy. The killer was local gangster Sonny, who proceeds to take Calogero under his wing when the young boy protects him by lying to the police. Calogero begins performing odd jobs for Sonny and starts to make serious money, despite the concerns of his father Lorenzo. Calogero can’t resist Sonny and his dangerously glamorous lifestyle and quickly becomes the toast of the neighborhood thanks to his association with Sonny. However, complications arise when Calogero falls for a girl from the wrong side of the Neighborhood on Webster Avenue, an African-American teenager named Jane. Before their relationship can even get going, they become caught between the hostilities of their neighborhoods in a violent series of events.
