Under Hellgate Bridge

On the mean streets that run beneath New York City’s Hellgate Bridge, in a world where easy money and violence are a way of life, two old enemies confront each other in a battle for love and power.

After being falsely imprisoned Ryan Daniels (Michael Rodrick) returns home to Astoria, Queens to attend the funeral of his brother Jimmy who has been found dead under Hellgate Bridge. Realizing that his only surviving brother Eddie (Brian Vincent) is headed for a similar fate, Ryan is determined to set things right. But when Ryan’s former girlfriend Carla (Jordan Bayne) and her mobster husband Vincent (Jonathan LaPaglia) also show up at the funeral, Ryan finds himself drawn back into a world he has desperately tried to avoid. Confronted with the reality that he is about to lose everything, and seeking redemption for his past actions, Ryan turns to the local priest Father Nichols (Dominic Chianese) who begins to share confidential information.

Ryan soon realizes that Vincent’s hold over the neighborhood is just too strong and he must somehow convince Eddie and Eddie’s girlfriend Doreen (Careena Melia) to leave Astoria. However Vincent’s grip is powerful and even though Ryan fights to break him free, Eddie keeps heading towards certain doom. When Vincent sends Carla to deliver a message to Ryan, seeing her brings up painful memories of the false accusations she made which sent him to prison. And when Carla tells him she has had Vincent’s baby, Ryan is devastated. For Carla, seeing Ryan brings back the guilt of the many secrets she has kept hidden and the realization that she is locked in a marriage based more on intimidation and material comfort than on love.

When Vincent’s hold over Eddie and Carla is threatened and his influence in the neighborhood is undermined, Vincent sends his goon Mitch (Vincent Pastore) to deal with Ryan. In an act of ultimate cruelty Vincent demonstrates his determination to hang on to all that is his, but Ryan has a strong ally in Father Nichols who intercedes on his behalf with Vincent’s mob boss Sal (Frank Vincent).

Determined to finally rid himself of Ryan, Vincent sets Eddie up to take the fall for a deal that goes bad. Ryan finds out about the set-up and confronts Vincent. The actions both men take to protect their deepest interests drives everything towards a climatic showdown and a series of blazing events that will change the lives of all involved. Ryan can only hope that once the smoke has cleared, life, love, faith and family will have prevailed.

In a neighborhood where a bridge symbolizes death, escape and renewal, Ryan learns that sometimes we must all choose between the lesser of two evils.