A video shot in the Bronx and recently shared on Instagram has shocked social media: a man, likely homeless and struggling, was filmed eating a dead rat. In the 1-minute and 15-second scene that has garnered well over 55,000 views filmed on 149th Street and Third Avenue in the Mott Haven neighborhood, the man can clearly be seen sitting on a step as he dissects the rat with his hands and then feeds on it. The scene raised debate: some users speculated about mental health problems, while others criticized those who filmed it instead of offering help. Some reacted by expressing horror, others even cracked jokes.
Still other users stressed concern for public health by dwelling on the fact that such an act could encourage the circulation the spread of bacteria or viruses dangerous to human health. There was no shortage of sarcastic comments about the “United States being envied globally for such behavior.”
The video comes as a number of studies indicate that New York is a city increasingly plagued by homelessness and economic precarity. A study from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in January (HUD) found that the city experienced a 53% increase in homelessness in 2024, while another from a New York-based nonprofit found that one in four New Yorkers are living in poverty.
In more detail, the incident highlights the extreme circumstances that some individuals may face, due to poverty, loneliness, homelessness or unfavorable socio-economic situations, which cause despair and may lead them to seek extreme and often degrading solutions.
