Twenty-four envelopes. That's how many general contractors showed up at 12:23 p.m. on Friday, May 29, for the NYC School Construction Authority's exterior job at P.S. 190 Sheffield, 590 Sheffield Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn. It's solicitation 26-23269D: flood elimination, roofs, parapets, windows and exterior masonry. On our board it's RFI-000444.

Army Construction, LLC was low at $19,226,200. NEHAL CONTRACTING, INC. was right behind at $19,464,000, a gap of $237,800, or 1.2%. KOKO Contracting, Inc. was third at $19,974,000, CVM Construction Corp fourth at $20,273,000 and BQE INDUSTRIES, INC. fifth at $20,350,000. The high bid was National Environmental Safety Company, Inc. at $31,444,000. That's a 63.5% spread from low to high. The median of the 24 was $21,608,500.

Here's the part that tells you about the market. Ten of the 24 bids sit within 10% of the low number, from Army at $19,226,200 up through All-Con Contracting Corp. at $20,973,000. When ten firms price a five-trade exterior job inside a $1.75 million band, the drawings were clear and everybody's buying brick, roofing and windows from the same places. The spread comes from the tail, not the pack.

The building houses more than one school. The Department of Education lists P.S. 190 Sheffield, Essence School and Legacy School of the Arts at 590 Sheffield Avenue. The SCA's February 2025 capital plan amendment already had this building down for an IP surveillance camera installation budgeted at $350,833, so this isn't the first capital dollar headed to Sheffield Avenue. The exterior package is the big one.

The SCA didn't post an engineer's estimate with the tab. Apparent low is not an award.

Why this matters. Flood elimination is now a standard line on SCA exterior jobs. The authority's own plan calls water infiltration "the single greatest cause of accelerated deterioration" of its buildings, and it put $750.5 million behind flood elimination in the February 2025 amendment. If you do below-grade waterproofing, drainage or foundation work, these jobs are yours to chase through the GCs.

What to do next. With first and second $237,800 apart, keep your sub pricing in front of both Army Construction, LLC and NEHAL CONTRACTING, INC. until the SCA confirms. Masonry, roofing and window subs: this is a 24-bidder job, so the GC who wins it was squeezing everybody. Price sharp, but price what's on the drawings.

Update, Sept. 28, 2026: The SCA's bid tabulation for 26-23269D now marks Army Construction, LLC as the awarded bidder. Its named Wicks subcontractors are Triumph Plumbing & Heating Corp (plumbing), CHAPMAN & EVANS, INC. (HVAC) and A&E Electrical Systems Corp (electrical).