The NYC School Construction Authority has a label that shows up on some of its biggest interior jobs: "IDA." Flood elimination, interior spaces, heating plant, fire alarm and piping work carry it, and the non-IDA extras on the same contract are tagged separately. Three of those packages have opened since November. They drew 46 bids from 31 firms, and the latest one opened Monday, June 1.

That one is solicitation 26-026744, opened at 10:39 a.m.: IDA flood elimination, IDA electrical upgrade, IDA interior spaces and IDA heating plant upgrade. The tab lists the location only as "Various." The same four IDA items, plus IDA roofs, a non-IDA playground upgrade for Central Park East High School and non-IDA gas piping removal, are carried together on the SCA's February anticipated contract awards list for the P.S. 497 building at 1573 Madison Avenue in East Harlem, which also houses J.H.S. 13 Jackie Robinson. Twelve firms bid. PMY CONSTRUCTION CORP. was low at $21,499,200. National Environmental Safety Company, Inc. was second at $21,966,000, $466,800 back (2.2%). Skyline Industries, LLC was third at $22,492,000. Armstrong Roofing, Corp. was high at $41,670,000, a 93.8% spread. Board: RFI-000436.

Look at the alternates on that one. Every bidder also priced an alternate, listed separately from the base bid that sets the order on the tab. PMY's alternate was $2,750,000, the biggest in the field. Skyline's was $75,000. Add each firm's alternate to its base and the order changes: Skyline comes out lowest at $22,567,000, National Environmental Safety second at $22,866,000, and PMY drops to fifth at $24,249,200. Whether that matters depends on whether the SCA takes the alternate.

Before that, on March 27, the SCA opened solicitation 26-026678 at P.S. 177, a special education school at 56-37 188th Street in Auburndale, Queens. The tab lists IDA flood elimination, waste systems, interior spaces, fire alarm systems and mechanical piping. Seventeen firms bid. Nikhi Contracting Corp was low at $14,200,200, National Environmental Safety Company, Inc. second at $14,555,000 and KOKO Contracting, Inc. third at $14,642,737. The top three were inside $442,537. NORTHEAST RESTORATION CORP. was high at $23,000,000. Alternates ran from $90,000 to $3,700,000, and one bidder, Whitestone Construction Corp., entered its alternate as a deduct of $2,121,271. Board: RFI-000752.

The first of the three opened November 24, 2025, less than a mile from P.S. 177: solicitation 26-21266D at Francis Lewis High School, 58-20 Utopia Parkway. IDA flood elimination, IDA interior spaces and an IDA heating plant upgrade, plus non-IDA work reinforcing support elements. Seventeen bids. KG Construction Services, Inc. was low at $14,555,000, KORDUN CONSTRUCTION CORP. second at $15,529,000 ($974,000, or 6.7%) and ABC CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTING, INC. third at $15,850,000. CARNAK CONSTRUCTION INC. was high at $21,833,000. Board: RFI-000876.

Five firms bid all three: KG Construction Services, Inc., Whitestone Construction Corp., National Environmental Safety Company, Inc., PMY CONSTRUCTION CORP. and Skyline Industries, LLC. National Environmental Safety finished second twice. KG was low at Francis Lewis, then finished ninth and tenth. The three apparent lows total $50,254,400. None of the tabs came with a published engineer's estimate. Apparent low is not an award.

Why this matters. These aren't roof-and-wall jobs. Interior spaces, heating plants, waste lines, mechanical piping and fire alarms put plumbers, pipefitters, boiler and HVAC contractors and electricians in the middle of the work. The City Council's review of the February 2026 capital plan shows $350 million for heating plant upgrades and $591.8 million for flood elimination, so there's money behind more of these.

What to do next. Mechanical, plumbing and electrical subs: send numbers to PMY CONSTRUCTION CORP. on the East Harlem package and keep them current with National Environmental Safety Company, Inc. until the SCA settles the alternate and the award. Watch the tab for 26-026744. The SCA's anticipated awards list shows more IDA-tagged packages in design.

Update, Sept. 28, 2026: The SCA's tabs now mark the apparent low as awarded on all three: KG Construction Services, Inc. at Francis Lewis High School, Nikhi Contracting Corp at P.S. 177 and PMY CONSTRUCTION CORP. on 26-026744.