Manhattan New York Temple

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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, Mormon 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. Continuing a trend beginning with the Vernal Utah Temple, the Church had 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 and fourth floors.

The temple occupies parts of the first and second floors and all of the 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 ordinance rooms and two sealing rooms, along with a baptismal font. 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 on May 8 to June 5 2004 allowing Mormon 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 Mormon temple through worldwide media coverage. Mormon missionaries in the area as well as Mormon 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 Mormon 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 Mormon Church such as 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.

In a recent local church conference on November 12, 2006, it was officially announced that the fourth floor, which currently houses classrooms and offices associated with the third-floor chapel, will be coverted to become part of the temple. When this work is completed, the temple baptistry will continue to occupy part of the first floor of the building, and the rest of the temple will occupy all of the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors. The third floor will remain a chapel for local congregations, and the second floor will continue to house a public affairs office as well as a new distribution center.