New York — As he waited for the bus in a neighborhood packed with two-story homes, Bradley Shields wondered what he’d have to do to get ahead of this city’s soaring rent prices.

Shields, 57, had just made a $3,000 payment for his apartment in the Ozone Park section of Queens to get current on his rent - $2,500 monthly for a studio apartment. Shields, a retired sanitation worker who has been forced back to work in the construction industry, envies friends and family who live in areas of the city where subsidized housing units are more plentiful.

“In the Bronx and other places, you are seeing new buildings that people can rent for $1,000 or $1,500 a month,” said Shields, who grew up in this community near John F. Kennedy International Airport. “Here, they are overcharging people. They are

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