the hottest ticket in town aren't on broadway. they are for the sweltering customers at NEW YORK'S US passport office , besieged by hundreds of america struggling to get passports at the height of tourist season
the coveted tickets are numbered white CARDS for entry into the US passport office building . it requires standing at least three hours in a 400 meter line that snakes around the block from the fashion Cafe on 51st street to the passport bureau on fifth avenue. once inside applicants join another line of people applying for new or renewed passports. the line starts forming at dawn against a backdrop of international flags and skyscrapers in rockefeller center. Latecomers who try to jump the line risk eviction by indignant early risers