After rescuing a boy from a tenement fire, a wealthy young man learns he owns the run-down building.
During a fire in a tenement in the Bowery section of New York, Joey Rogers attempts to escape from the building using a fire escape ladder; when the ladder breaks, however, Joey falls and receives severe injuries. Peter Cortlant helps Joey's sister Mary take him to the hospital, where he agrees with her that the owner of the building should be held for negligence, and offers to pay for Joey's hospital bills. Peter later finds out that he owns the block of tenements that were on fire, and his business manager, Arthur Mather, advises him that the district attorney will be investigating the case. Against Arthur's advice and his sister Ethel's scorn, Peter attends the district attorney's investigation, where Mary finds out his true identity. During the investigation it is revealed that this "old-law" tenement, along with 67,000 others in New York City, were built before 1901 and are therefore excluded from any new safety construction laws. As there were no complaints made about the building, which is falling to pieces, the district attorney rules that there were no violations. Mary is horrified to learn the identity of Joey's benefactor, especially when he appears so ignorant of the condition of his buildings. When Peter visits the tenement and attempts to kick prostitute Myrtle out, Sam Noon, who is in love with Mary, comes to her aid and advises Peter to stay away from Mary. Mary takes Joey out of the hospital, but he is crippled for life and refuses to go inside the tenement. Fantasizing that the building talks to him and tells him that it has always housed squalor and misery, Joey vows revenge. Mary, meanwhile, finds her way to Peter's mansion and offers to repay him for the hospital bills, but he rejects the offer. After Peter describes how his ancestors ruthlessly acquired, Mary encourages him to find a way to fix the tenements by selling the mortgage to the city and supervising their reconstruction. Ethel vows to take Peter to court and expose his relationship with Mary as a sordid one. Afraid that Mary will be hurt, Peter discards his plan, but when he invites Mary to dinner and tells her how his sister has stopped him, she leaves angrily. Later, Joey sets fire to the building and dies with it. Sam promises Peter he will marry Mary the next day to save her from scandal if Peter then promises to rebuild, and Peter agrees. Peter supervises the destruction and rebuilding of the tenements.
