Joe’s Apartment

Penniless and fresh from the University of Iowa, Joe F. moves to New York determined to find a place to live and a way to support himself. He canvasses the city, facing scarce options and hostile landlords. The search establishes his vulnerability and the stakes of securing a stable home.

The death of Mrs. Grotowski opens a chance for Joe to claim the last rent-controlled apartment. Walter Shit, an artist, helps him seal the deal by convincing everyone that Mrs. Grotowski was Joe's mother. This manipulation seeds an unlikely alliance that keeps Joe in his new home.

Senator Dougherty aims to clear the building to make way for a prison project. He uses Alberto Bianco and his nephews Vlad and Jesus to intimidate tenants and push them out. The eviction scheme places Joe squarely in the middle of a political and criminal power play.

Joe discovers twenty to thirty thousand cockroaches living as talking, singing roommates. Led by Ralph, the insects communicate with Joe and increasingly influence his life. Their presence reframes his daily routine and raises the stakes of his housing crisis.

Tired of dead-end jobs, Joe becomes the unskilled drummer in Walter Shit's band. The gig gives him purpose and a sense of belonging, even as it tethers him to Shit's scheming world. Hanging posters for SHIT also introduces Joe to the neighborhood's power dynamics and Lily's involvement.

While promoting SHIT posters around the neighborhood, Joe meets Lily Dougherty, Senator Dougherty's daughter who runs a local community garden project. The encounter plants a spark of romance and a shared interest in transforming the vacant site around the building. The two storylines begin to intertwine—the garden and the fight over the building.

A thoughtful gift helps mend the rift with Lily, and she starts spending time at Joe's apartment. The gesture deepens their bond even as the housing conflict looms larger. The romance becomes entangled with the building's fate and the roaches' involvement.

The cockroaches violate their prior pact to stay out of human affairs, triggering chaos in Joe's life. Lily flees in panic after witnessing the roaches' interference. The garden Lily tended is burned to the ground, intensifying the crisis surrounding the building.

As both the garden and the building lie in ruin, a mutual truce forms between the tenants and the roaches. The roaches vow to help repair the situation and restore balance. The conflict shifts from violence to collaboration, setting the stage for a cooperative solution.

Under the truce, the cockroaches call in favors from every roach, rat, and pigeon across New York to gather materials. They also handle the bureaucratic details to secure permits and approvals for a city-wide garden project. The bold plan reorients the power dynamics and supports a shared vision for the space.

Materials assemble and the area around the building is transformed into a thriving garden. The human tenants and their unlikely insect allies begin to enjoy a stable, peaceful coexistence. The project demonstrates that cooperation can turn a tense housing fight into community renewal.

With the garden established and the tenant-landlord balance renewed, Joe's life stabilizes and the roaches become quirky protectors of their shared home. The city continues around them, but harmony reigns in this unusual coalition. The story ends on a hopeful note of collaboration between humans and insects.