Former New York Life Insurance Company Building

Manhattan, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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Built between 1894 and 1898 in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood, 108 Leonard (formerly the New York Life Insurance Company Building) is a landmark office structure designed by Stephen Decatur Hatch and completed under the oversight of McKim, Mead & White. The massive marble-clad edifice, occupying a full city block, exemplifies Mediterranean and Renaissance Revival architecture with its vertically divided facade bays, rusticated stone entrances, and horizontal band courses. Its most distinctive feature is an ornate clock tower positioned above the 12th story along the Broadway elevation, housing a mechanically wound clock. Originally constructed in two phases—the eastern section completed in 1896 as an annex and the western section in 1898—the building served as New York Life's headquarters until 1928 and later housed government offices and garment industry tenants. Today the structure contains 152 condominium residences alongside preserved interior features including an elaborate banquet hall, former executive offices, and ornately decorated lobbies, earning designation as both a New York City landmark and a National Register of Historic Places listing.