A groundbreaking ceremony, to signify the beginning of construction was held on September 23, 2002, conducted by Spencer J. Condie, a church general authority.

The announcement of a temple to be built in New York City was made on August 7, 2002, and received widespread news coverage.

[4] Previously, on March 24, 2002, at a special regional conference broadcast from Manhattan to surrounding stakes and districts, Hinckley stated that he expected a temple to be built in the area in the next two years.

It was widely assumed that this was in reference to the previously announced temple in Harrison, New York, construction of which had been delayed for several years.

Converting an existing building instead of constructing from the ground up, as is typical of the church's temples, was made after considering property values in the area.

Previously, the fifth and sixth floors constituted a second chapel and set of classrooms that were dedicated in 2002, which in turn were adapted from an early gym and sports club built as part of the neighboring apartment complex.

[1][5] The interior features a large glass mural and several paintings, centered around the celestial room, which is designed to foster a spiritually uplifting environment.

Carved into the medium-stain oak wood panels and molding are beehives, while door handle escutcheon plates incorporate the Statue of Liberty torch together with fig or grape leaves and stars.

[6] Curved archways above ordinance room doors and mirrors contain design elements specifically adapted from the Salt Lake Temple.

The second endowment room (representing the Terrestrial Kingdom) extends approximately one and one-half floors high and contains two unadorned faux art glass windows and Ionic columns gilded with white gold leaf highlights.

Flanking its walls are 8 Corinthian columns (four half-columns and 4 quarter-columns), the capitals of which are lightly gilded with yellow and white gold leaf, plus 4 mirrors and two faux art glass windows with olive fruit and olive leaves surrounded by grapes and grape leaves.

The height of the Celestial Room extends two stories and incorporates an upper-level balcony (which is non-accessible to patrons) that maximizes a sense of open vertical space.

Hallway walls have original works of art by landscape artists depicting scenes from nature as well as other artwork prints commonly found in other church temples and meetinghouses.

The local temple committee, under the direction of general authority Glenn L. Pace, and later David R. Stone, was headed by Brent J. Belnap, president of the church's New York New York Stake and assisted by W. Blair Garff (later called as temple president), Stephen D. Quinn, and others.

Church members and non-members alike viewed a 15-minute introductory video and took a 40-minute walking tour through the first, fifth, and sixth floors of the temple.

Special guests during the open house included two members of the United States Senate and other national and local dignitaries.

On June 12, 2004, a cultural "jubilee celebration" was held at Radio City Music Hall, entitled "A Standard for the Nations."

Master of ceremonies for the jubilee, which was broadcast to surrounding stake centers and was immediately followed by a youth fireside, was Dave Checketts.

As part of the first dedicatory session, a special cornerstone laying ceremony was held, during which a time capsule containing memorabilia from New York, such as a copy of The New York Times and other church-related items, including a set of scriptures, a handkerchief used during the dedication ceremony, and sheet music, were placed within the cornerstone.

The church commissioned organbuilder Sebastian M. Glück to design and build a new pipe organ for the New York Stake Center chapel in 2004.