Forget Broadway, Times Square and the Empire State Building.

The open house for the new LDS temple in Manhattan is the hottest ticket in town.

As of Monday, more than 80 percent of the free tickets to the public open house starting later this week were already gone, said Brent Belnap, temple committee chairman.

"It's almost all reserved, and the open house hasn't even started yet," Belnap said.

VIP tours of the new temple began Monday. Ambassadors from Eastern Europe and the Middle East are among those on the long list of VIPs who will tour the temple this week, said Jason Howell, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The temple doors will officially open to the public Saturday for a monthlong open house. Tours will run on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through June 5.

To snag one of the only tickets left, go to www.lds.org/temples.

Located just one block west of Central Park, the temple will serve more than 42,000 church members in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

"Obviously, having a temple here in New York City is a big deal in part because it's in the heart of midtown Manhattan," said Belnap, who also serves as stake president of the New York New York Stake.

The temple will take up four of the six floors of a building used by the church since 1975. Local church members must take an elevator up to the third or fourth floor to attend their Sunday meetings, Belnap said.

But don't worry. The pitter-patter of toddler feet in the hallways and laughs from Sunday School class will not be heard on the temple floor up above.

"The temple itself is soundproof," Belnap said. "You really don't hear any of the traffic and sirens and certainly any of the meetings going on down below."

Belnap said about 1,000 visitors, most who are not members of the LDS Church, toured the temple Saturday during a practice run for the VIP and public tours.

"Almost all of them have described the temple as exceptionally beautiful, a real asset and jewel here in New York City," Belnap said.

The LDS Church currently operates 117 temples world-

wide. Church members consider temples to be "houses of the Lord" where marriages, baptisms and other sacred ordinances are performed.

President Gordon B. Hinckley will formally dedicate the temple June 13, 2004. Four private dedicatory sessions are planned to accommodate as many New York City area Latter-day Saints as possible.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com