Christmas Lights Everywhere! Its Dyker Heights

byjetrbby80316

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Updated 6 years ago

NYC is known as a wonderful place to spend the days leading up to Christmas. Of course, we have the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdoff’’s windows, and many more famous outstanding attractions.

Now how about I take you a bit off the beaten path…..

Last night we paid a visit to an off-beat place in Brooklyn NYC that has become a bastion of holiday inspiration to usher in the Christmas spirit.

Here is where you can see Christmas Lights Everywhere, as far as the eye can see!

It’s the Italian neighborhood of Dyker Heights, an affluent residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, US. It is on a hill between Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Gravesend Bay.

Over a mere 9 square block area covering 82nd Street to 84th Street and 13th Ave to 15th Ave, there are more densly packed lights and Christmas ornery and decorations in Dyker Heights than you will see in other large major cities!

In fact, there is so much luminous, holiday razzle-dazzle in Dyker heights that you may want to wear shades!

Lights Everywhere!

Dyker Heights has truly become a “must-see” for many local and international tourists during the holidays. It has been called "Con Ed's warmest heartthrob,” the "undisputed capital of Christmas pageantry," and the "king of the Christmas lights.”

Once only an unspoken competition among the homeowners in the neighborhood, what started in the 1980’s as a fun bout of “one-upmanship” has now become famous among the well-informed “holiday crowds” for its Christmas lights and decorations erected each year by its residents.

You will see visitors walking through the neighborhood as well as people in their cars rolling by at a few miles per hour all around the area.

Being referred to as "an epicenter of professionally hung Christmas lights". Christmas lights are now the core of the Dyker Heights identity, since the entire community, not just one home or one block, participates.

Most holiday decorations in the area are not erected by homeowners, but by local decorating companies, but the cost of hiring professional decorators can vary greatly, from $1,000 to $20,000 or more, depending on the scale of the display.

Many companies also offer additional services, including the option to take down and store decorations.

Do It By Yourself

Although there are now guided tours of the area where you can pay, the best and most cost-effective way to enjoy the Dyker Heights experience is to go by yourself.

For $2.75 you can take your friends and family on the “iron lizard”, the D subway line from Midtown Manhattan to 79th Street andNew Utrecht Ave. The subway ride takes 60-70 minutes, but leaves you off only one block away from all the festivities.

The total experience involves you wandering down multiple blocks and avenues for hours, zig-zagging the terrain, so make sure you bundle up!

Here in this Kings County neighborhood you will be deluged with the most over-the-top Christmas lights, where single homes are adorned with more than tens of thousands of lights, HUGE inflatable Santas, snowmen, and houses blasting Christmas carols from loudspeakers.

I hope you enjoyed this colorful min-tour of Dyker Heights, and felt a vicarious thrill in seeing these incredible Christmas lights and decorations.

Happy Holidays!

Cheers,

Kaju