Out to Bid: $73.8M of NYC School Work Filed in Six Days

The New York City School Construction Authority filed 33 distinct jobs with the Department of Buildings between September 9 and September 14, carrying a combined declared cost of $73,784,445.52. The work spans all five boroughs. None of it was announced, because the filing is the announcement.

Why it matters

Public school capital work is the most reliably fundable construction pipeline in the city and the least packaged. It does not depend on a lender, a rezoning or a lease-up, and the scopes are legible months before a bid goes out. For a subcontractor deciding where to put estimating hours this quarter, the useful signal is not the headline total but the mix, and the mix here is not new schools. Two envelope and mechanical replacement jobs alone account for 49.6% of the money.

The numbers

The largest is $22,612,500 at 125-10 23 Avenue in Queens, to remove and replace all existing parapets, cornices, roofing systems, windows and exterior masonry. Second is $14,000,000 at 108 Montrose Avenue in Brooklyn, replacing ventilators, steam radiators, air handling units and 127 steam fintube radiators. Third is $12,572,082 of structural work for a new school building at 23-10 43 Avenue in Queens.

Below those: $7,900,000 at 750 Baychester Avenue in the Bronx, $5,570,670 for roof replacement and flood elimination at 245 Beach 79 Street in the Rockaways, $4,920,000 at 175 West 166 Street in the Bronx for a new elevator and toilet renovations, $2,075,520 for a connection bridge at P.S. 019-R on Post Avenue in Staten Island, and $1,537,981 of street drainage work around 170-21 84 Avenue in Queens.

Three new school buildings sit in the file: the Post Avenue structure, a three-story building at 25 Greenleaf Avenue on Staten Island, and a four-story building at 137-23 45 Avenue in Queens, the latter showing only as excavation support for utilities. One site is plainly mobilizing: 330 Alabama Avenue in Brooklyn drew four separate filings on September 13 alone, for scaffolding, a sidewalk shed, excavation support and a construction fence.

What’s next

Envelope and heating plant replacement is where this money is concentrated right now, which favors masonry, roofing, glazing and mechanical trades over general construction. The filings to watch are the three new buildings, since those convert into the largest and longest bid packages. For the South Florida edition of this franchise, see our Out to Bid coverage of FLL Terminal 5 and the New York market.