New York has given Shilo Sanders two reasons to reconsider making the city home. First came the price of an apartment. Now, after a few days in the city, the rats have become another problem.
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The former Colorado safety says he has enjoyed his time in New York, but his latest Instagram video suggests that finding somewhere to live may be harder than he expected. And this time, the issue has nothing to do with the rent.
“I love New York. I’ve had a great time out here, but every place I go into, it’s rats, bro,” Shilo said in an Instagram Reel posted on the night of November 9. “I can’t do this. I promise you, I’ve seen three rats out here since I’ve been here. I can’t live like that, bro.”
The video took a more dramatic turn when Shilo said he had just walked out of a restaurant after spotting a rat inside. He was still outside when someone apparently told him the animal had been caught.
“Oh, you got it? Oh, all right, they got it, bro,” Shilo said with relief. “I had to run out of here. I can’t do this, bro.”
Shilo had sounded considerably more open to the idea when he first discussed moving to New York. During a YouTube video filmed in Florida, he spoke to a man from the city and asked whether he should move there. The man warned him about the cost of living, but Shilo was not put off.
“I’m actually going to go out there and do a house hunt video there ’cause I’m trying to look in New York. Should I move there?” he asked.
When the man pointed out how expensive the city could be, Shilo brushed off the warning. He was already dealing with high prices in Florida and thought New York could hardly make things worse. That confidence did not last long.
In a video posted earlier in November, Shilo complained about the amount of space renters get for their money. He said even a monthly budget reaching $12,000 would not necessarily get him an apartment he considered worth the price.
“My biggest thing about New York, bro, is the square footage for the price,” Shilo said. “I don’t know who normalized the real estate market in New York, but it’s outrageous, bro.”
The rat encounter has now added a different concern to his list. An expensive apartment can be rejected after looking at the numbers. Finding a rat inside a restaurant is a rather more immediate way to lose interest in a neighborhood.
New York’s housing market is not making the decision easy. Realtor.com’s October 27 rental report found that the city’s median asking rent reached $3,785 in the third quarter of 2026, the highest figure in its data series, which began in 2019.
That was a 4.5% increase from the same period last year. Manhattan was considerably more expensive. Its median asking rent stood at $5,375, up 8.3% year over year. Brooklyn’s median was $4,197, while Queens came in at $3,744. Even the Bronx had a median asking rent of $3,233.
Those are citywide figures, of course, and do not tell the whole story of what a particular apartment offers. But they show why someone looking for more space could find the search frustrating.
Shilo has already spent weeks looking at properties in Florida. Some of the rentals he viewed in Miami and Fort Lauderdale were priced above $10,000 a month. One downtown Miami property caught his attention because of its river views, but the $14,000 monthly price was too much for him.
He also considered West Palm Beach, though safety concerns made him hesitant about returning there. His brother, Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders, even offered to help with the down payment on a house.
Shilo would still have to cover the monthly payments, however. That offer could help with the initial cost of buying a property, but it does not solve the problem of finding somewhere he actually wants to live.
“I was gonna go house hunting, all that stuff, but I don’t know, bro. This ain’t my type of place,” Shilo concluded in the reel.
Shilo’s reaction will sound familiar to anyone who has spent time in New York. Rats have been a persistent part of the city’s public image, particularly around restaurant districts, subway stations, and streets where trash piles up.
Interestingly, there has been some progress in the official numbers. New York City’s Department of Sanitation reported in December 2025 that residents had filed 20,025 rat-sighting complaints through 311 between December 2024 and November 2025.
That was a 20.6% decline from the 25,230 reports recorded during the previous 12-month period. The department linked the drop to rules requiring more buildings and businesses to keep their trash in sealed containers.
Shilo’s search for a place in New York may end up shaped as much by the city’s streets as its rents. While the rat problem is being improved, it remains to be seen whether it’s enough to change Shilo’s mind.