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Wikipedia: The Manhattan New York Temple is the 119th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The opening of a temple in New York City was announced on August 7, 2002. A few months before, on March 24, 2002, at a special regional conference in the city, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley told those in attendance that he expected a temple to be built in the area in the next two years. The need for a temple in the area became apparent during the last decade when local Mormon membership tripled to more than 42,000 members. A groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication were held on September 23, 2002, with construction beginning soon after. As was done with the Vernal Utah Temple, the Church decided to adapt an existing stake center building—which stands at the intersection of West 65th Street, Broadway, and Columbus Avenue, and is across the street from the Lincoln Center—into the temple. The original building was constructed in 1976 and still houses a public affairs office on the second floor and a chapel on the third floor. The temple occupies all of the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors of the building. The insides of these floors were completely renovated. The walls were made to be soundproof so that the noise of the traffic outside would not interrupt temple patrons. The total floor area for the temple part of the building is 20,630 square feet and the temple houses two progressive ordinance rooms and two sealing rooms, along with a baptismal font. Uncommon to most temples with two progressive ordinance rooms, the second ordinance room of the Manhattan temple is perpendicular to the first . Inside the temple, beehives are carved into the molding and door handles that look like the Statue of Liberty torch are found throughout. There are also paintings on the walls of many of the rooms that depict scenes in nature.A temple open house was held from May 8 to June 5, 2004 allowing LDS members and non-members alike to see the inside of the temple. More than 53,000 people took the 40-minute tour through the temple, and many others experienced the LDS temple through worldwide media coverage. Mormon missionaries in the area as well as LDS members, who had volunteered to help, gave the tours.On June 12, 2004, a cultural celebration was held at the Radio City Music Hall, entitled A Standard to the Nations. It was a two-hour performance including more than 2,400 LDS youth from the area (the largest cast to ever perform on the stage of Radio City Music Hall). President Hinckley officially dedicated the Manhattan New York Temple for use on June 13, 2004. After the dedication, a special ceremony was held and a time capsule was put in the cornerstone with memorabilia from New York such as a copy of the New York Times and memorabilia from the LDS Church, including a set of scriptures, a handkerchief used during the dedication ceremony, and sheet music. Just before the temple dedication it was announced that a steeple and statue of the angel Moroni would be added to the building in the fall. On October 9, 2004, thousands of people came to watch the ten-foot statue be placed on top of the steeple. It is interesting to note that unlike the angel Moroni atop most LDS temples that face eastward, the angel Moroni on this temple points southwest, since the pre-existing building faced that direction.In a local church conference on November 12, 2006, it was officially announced that the fourth floor, which at the time housed classrooms and offices associated with the third-floor chapel and old stake center, would be converted to become part of the temple. This work was completed in August 2007. The temple baptistry continues to occupy part of the first floor of the building, and the rest of the temple occupies all of the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors. The third floor remains a chapel for local congregations, and the second floor continues to house a public affairs office as well as a new distribution center. \t \t\t \t\t\tNew York Temple. jpg

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