The structure was designed in the Italian Romanesque Revival style by York and Sawyer, with William Louis Ayres as the partner in charge.

110 East 42nd Street, as well as the adjacent Pershing Square Building, were built on the site of the Grand Union Hotel.

The building was sold to SL Green in 1998, and the former banking space was turned into an event venue and banquet hall operated by Cipriani S.A.

[6][7][8] The design shares many elements with the Pershing Square Building directly to the west, which was also co-designed by York & Sawyer.

[6] York & Sawyer's ultimate design emphasized the juxtaposition of office and banking concerns in the building, which are stacked one above the other.

[6] The facade elements are also decorated with representations of figures such as "birds, beasts, fantastic mythological creatures [and] human forms".

At the bottom of both facades is a water table made of granite, which is 3 feet (0.91 m) higher on the eastern part of the building, due to the area's topography sloping downward to the east.

[8][18] On the four-story base facing 42nd Street to the north, there is a large round-arched entrance taking up most of the facade, with detailed archivolts running on the underside of the archway.

A short flight of stairs leads to a set of doors, above which is a large window that fills the rest of the arch opening.

A pair of rose windows, small circular apertures, are located at the fourth floor flanking the top of the arch.

Above the first- and second-floor arcade, there are four carved motifs, located at even intervals, as well as an inscription "A Mutual Institution Chartered 1834 To Serve Those Who Save".

[24] According to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, these include ashlar as well as "marble, limestone, sandstone, imitation stone, and plaster".

[26] The York Safe and Lock Company built a rectangular steel vault door measuring 36 inches (910 mm) thick.

[10][11] The banking room uses marble, limestone, sandstone and bronze screens to create a space reminiscent of a basilica.

[20] The 42nd Street branch had a single waiting and banking room, obviating the need for clerks to frequently walk between back-room desks and public-facing counters.

[25] The arches were nearly completely filled with mosaic designs, except for stone grilles that concealed the openings for the heating system.

It includes a staircase to the New York City Subway's Grand Central–42nd Street station, serving the 4, ​5, ​6, <6>​, 7, <7>​​, and S trains, along its western side.

[32] A set of platforms at Grand Central, now serving the IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4, ​5, ​6, and <6> trains), was to be built diagonally under the building site as part of the agreement.

[33][34] At the time, the site under the proposed station was occupied by Grand Union Hotel, which was condemned via eminent domain in February 1914.

[47] The bank's management were initially unenthusiastic about the 42nd Street site, because it was right next to the elevated Grand Central station.

[47] The Bowery Savings Bank's decision reflected the northward movement of commerce in Manhattan, as well as the influence of suburbs on new development in New York City's core.

[54] That month, Mandel sold the Bowery Savings Bank the eastern half of the Grand Union Hotel site, which would be developed into an office building at 110 East 42nd Street.

[67]Some alterations were made to the main building in 1927, including the installation of a clock, bronze display cases, and revolving doors outside the 42nd Street entrance.

[81] At the same time, with the renovation and revival of Grand Central in the late 1990s, large tenants began occupying 110 East 42nd's office space.

[87][88] By 2014, the building was completely occupied by tenants such as The Princeton Review, Metro-North Railroad, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

[89] The areas immediately surrounding Grand Central, including 110 East 42nd, had 1.8 million square feet (170,000 m2) of air rights above the terminal and its rail yards.

[90] That year, some of 110 East 42nd's unused air rights were passed to One Vanderbilt, a 1,401-foot-tall (427 m) skyscraper being built a block to the west.

[98][99] Shortly after the building was completed, Charles G. Loring of Architectural Forum wrote in 1928 that the edifice was "a castle in the clouds brought to earth, and the ticket of admission is only a stiff little deposit book.

"[15][101] On the other hand, historian and author George Harold Edgell wrote: "From the point of view of sound economics it is shocking.

"[104] A 1986 article in the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail said that 110 East 42nd Street "flaunts the power of New York money.