When his father is framed for murder, immigrant son Nikolaus McGovern rallies together a motley crew of street youths in a rip-roaring coming-of-age adventure based on the period history of antebellum New York City. Set against the backdrop of rampant political corruption, vicious street gangs, rising labour reform and ardent xenophobia - can Niko and his friends triumph in a life-and-death battle against their oppressors, or will they succumb to the engines of socio-economic progress?