In 1904, the steamboat General Slocum catches fire in New York City's East River, killing over 1,000 people from the tight-knit German immigrant community—including the wife and three children of Oscar Strauss. In the wake of the tragedy, Oscar tries to find the strength to stay in his East Village apartment—all while clinging to the hope that his young daughter may still be alive.

Meanwhile, stories of other residents of the apartment begin to emerge: a Holocaust survivor rebuilds in post-World War II America, an artist weathers the violent and tumultuous 1970s, a native New Yorker still reels from the 9/11 attacks years before. Aided by a mysterious Prophet who skirts the boundaries of time and age, these stories blend into each other, leading to Oscar’s final decision. People come; people go. A city changes and bleeds, and everything keeps moving.