The Department of Citywide Administrative Services opened five bids on Oct. 7 to modernize every elevator at Concourse Plaza, 198 East 161st Street in the Bronx, and the low bid landed far away from the rest. Transel Elevator & Electric Inc. is the apparent low at $3,035,000. The next price, from Sea Breeze General Construction, Inc., is $6,449,000.

The contract (EPIN 85623B0006) covers all the elevators in the building: cabs, controls and ancillary system components, including an AC unit, plus remedial architectural and electrical work, according to DCAS's City Record notice.

The field: Transel Elevator & Electric Inc. $3,035,000; Sea Breeze General Construction, Inc. $6,449,000; Five Star Contracting Co., Inc. $7,500,000; Knightsbridge Construction Corp. $8,711,000; Ashnu International Inc. $9,917,919.

Transel's number is $3,414,000 under Sea Breeze. That is 47.1% of the second bid; flip it around and the second bid is 112.5% above the low. The high bid is 226.8% above the low, and the median is $7,500,000. DCAS publishes no engineer's estimate on the tab, which it marks for informational purposes only and subject to verification. Our board has the job as RFI-000913.

Behind Transel, the other four bids were spread across $3.5 million, from $6.4 million to $9.9 million. Transel is the only one of the five whose name identifies it as an elevator firm; the tab does not say which bidders planned to self-perform the elevator work.

Why this matters. When one bid is half of every other bid, either the low firm sees the job differently or the rest of the field is carrying a lot of markup and risk. Either way, an apparent low is not an award, and the next step is DCAS's responsiveness and responsibility review.

What to do next. Electrical, architectural finish and HVAC subs should price to Transel and keep a second number for Sea Breeze. Watch City Record for DCAS's award.

Update, Sept. 28, 2026: No award under EPIN 85623B0006 appeared in City Record. On Aug. 26, 2026, DCAS advertised the same scope at 198 East 161st Street (Concourse Plaza) as "CSB 161 ST Elevator Modernization Rebid," EPIN 85626B0010, with a virtual pre-bid conference Sept. 30 and bids due Oct. 28, 2026 through PASSPort.