When they encounter members of a Puerto Rican street gang called the Sharks, the Jets, a local white gang, decide to challenge the Sharks to a rumble for undisputed control of the neighborhood.
Detective Schrank, the senior cop on the beat, tries to get the Jets to tell him which Puerto Ricans are starting trouble in the neighborhood, as he claims he is on their side. The Jets, however, are not stool pigeons and won't tell him anything. Frustrated, Schrank threatens to beat the crap out of the Jets unless they make nice.
Riff visits Tony, who is now working at Doc's drugstore, and tries to persuade him to come to the neighborhood dance for the war council. Initially, Tony refuses. Being a Jet doesn't give him the same thrill it used to. He feels like something big is just around the corner. But Riff is still his pal and wins him over in the end.
At the gym, the Jets and their girls dance on one side, while the Sharks and their girls dance on the other. Glad Hand, the chaperone who is overseeing the dance, makes an unsuccessful attempt to get the kids to dance together, across gang lines.
After Tony finds Maria's building and serenades her outside her bedroom window, she joins him on the fire escape, and the two young lovers profess their love to each other ("Tonight").
Tony suggests "a fair fight"--fists only, no weapons. Both leaders agree, despite protests from some members. Bernardo thinks that he will fight Tony, but Riff chooses Diesel to represent the Jets.
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