How to Visit the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights in Brooklyn
Do you want to see the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights in New York?
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting this Christmas light extravaganza in Brooklyn! As a native New Yorker, this is a holiday tradition for me, and I think you will love it too!
Christmas in NYC is truly the most magical time of the year. No other city in the United States goes all out celebrating and decorating for the Christmas season quite like New York does.
And while many of the best festive things to do in NYC around the holidays are located in Manhattan, there’s one place in Brooklyn you can’t miss around Christmas: Dyker Heights.
Dyker Heights is a residential neighborhood in Brooklyn that transforms into a kitschy, colorful Christmas wonderland every year. Many residents of Dyker Heights decorate their homes with the most over-the-top Christmas light displays that you can imagine. Strolling around Dyker Heights, admiring the lights with a cup of hot cocoa in hand, is one of the best things to do in New York at Christmas.
But since it’s located outside of Manhattan, many visitors to the city have no idea about Dyker Heights. Or even if they do, they might skip it because they think it’s too far away. However, I highly recommend making the time to go to Dyker Heights. It’s well worth it if you’re in New York around Christmas.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights.
Overview of Dyker Heights
The Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn is very residential and looks nothing like the crowded streets of Manhattan. You won’t see any high-rise buildings packed together on the streets here — it’s a lot of single-family detached and semi-detached homes, giving Dyker Heights more of a suburban feel.
Culturally, the neighborhood has historically been made up primarily of Italian Americans.
How did the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights get started?
The Dyker Heights Christmas Lights tradition started back in the 1980s. A woman named Lucy Spata moved to the neighborhood and started decorating her house extravagantly for Christmas.
At first, some of the neighbors were wary, but each year, more and more of them decided to start decorating their houses too. There’s probably a competitive element involved too, with neighbors trying to outdo one another to see who can have the most colorful and over-the-top Christmas light display.
Visiting the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights is totally free.
Where Are the Christmas Lights?
Houses all over Dyker Heights decorate for Christmas, but there’s one area in particular where you’ll find the highest concentration of decorated homes and extravagant light displays.
The best streets for seeing the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights are from 11th Avenue to 13th Avenue between 80th Street and 85th Street. These blocks go all out in decorating their homes.
I do recommend checking out some of the surrounding streets too. The side streets can be less congested and calmer to stroll down, and you can find some hidden gems among the houses.
When to See the Christmas Lights
You can see the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights all throughout the holiday season.
They officially start on the day after Thanksgiving and run through the Epiphany in early January. The lights are turned on when it gets dark (so around 4:30 PM) and stay on until 9 PM or 10 PM.
The Dyker Heights Christmas Lights are very popular, especially on weekends. If you can go on a weeknight, you’ll be able to enjoy it with fewer crowds. Also, it tends to get busier as Christmas approaches, so if you can go in early December (or during the first week of January), that will be better.
How to Get to Dyker Heights
So how can you actually get to Dyker Heights? You have several options, which I’ll outline below.
Option 1: Subway
Taking the subway is the best way to get to Dyker Heights, in my opinion. Don’t be put off by taking the subway! It’s a fairly long journey from Manhattan, but it’s easy, safe, and affordable.
You’ll want to take the R train from Manhattan. There are quite a few stations in Manhattan where you can catch this train, including the Times Square – 42nd Street station. You’ll want to make sure you get on the train going in the direction of Brooklyn, not Queens. You should be able to follow the signs for Brooklyn-bound trains, and the right train will show the last stop as Bay Ridge – 95th Street.
Take the R train to the 86th Street station in Brooklyn. From Times Square, this should take just over 50 minutes. When you get off the train, you’ll be in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn.
From here, you’ll walk 15 to 20 minutes down 86th Street until you reach Dyker Heights.
I prefer this option because you can go on your own schedule and it’s cheap — just $2.90 for the subway fare each way. (You can just tap your card to pay at any subway station in New York.)
Option 2: Bus Tour
Another option for visiting the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights is taking a bus tour from Manhattan.
This could be a good option for you if you have mobility issues or you just don’t want to take the subway and walk. Dyker Heights bus tours depart from a convenient location in Midtown Manhattan.
This is the most popular tour out there for visiting the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights. On this four-hour evening tour, you’ll depart Manhattan and drive approximately one hour to Dyker Heights. There, you’ll be able to enjoy a one-hour guided walking tour around the neighborhood.
After seeing all the best lights, you’ll get back on the bus and start driving back to Manhattan, making a 20-minute photo stop at the Brooklyn Bridge, where you can enjoy some incredible views.
The tour finishes at Bryant Park, where you can enjoy the Christmas market and ice skating rink.
Click here to book the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights bus tour.
This is a good option if you don’t want to worry about any logistics yourself. However, I will say the main drawback to a tour like this is that you’re limited on time and have to stick with the group.
Option 3: Rideshare or Driving
The final way you can visit the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights is by rideshare or driving yourself. However, I honestly don’t recommend doing this, because it can be expensive and difficult.
If you use a rideshare app like Uber or Lyft, you’re looking at a cost of at least $60 each way if you’re coming from Manhattan, and it can easily be more than that! Not worth it in my opinion.
I also don’t recommend renting a car in New York. You can drive to Dyker Heights, but then you have to worry about finding parking. And for most tourists, renting a car in New York doesn’t make sense. It’s expensive, and it can be challenging to drive in the city if you’ve never done it before.
If you’re from the New York area and you have your own car, driving can be faster and easier, but that’s really the only scenario where I would recommend driving to the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights.
If you do decide to drive, it’s usually not hard to find street parking on 86th Street or another street nearby. I recommend parking and getting out to walk, since the streets can be congested.
Tips for Visiting the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights
Now that I’ve talked about how to visit the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights and the pros and cons of each method, here are a few more important tips you should know before you go…
Dress warmly. Winter in New York can be very cold, so be sure to dress warmly since you’ll be outside! For extra cold nights, I recommend hand warmers that you can put in your gloves and pockets.
Wear comfortable shoes. You should also be sure to wear comfortable shoes for walking around. If it’s been very cold or has snowed recently, some waterproof winter boots are a good idea.
There are no public restrooms. Since Dyker Heights is a residential neighborhood, there are no public restrooms nearby. If you’re taking the subway, there’s a Starbucks and a McDonald’s on that block where you can use the restroom before walking over to the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights.
Be respectful. It’s important to remember that these are actually people’s homes and to be respectful of that. Don’t litter, don’t walk onto someone’s property to take photos, etc.
You can buy snacks and drinks. Many people sell hot cocoa, Christmas cookies, and other snacks in front of their homes in Dyker Heights. There are also more restaurants closer to the subway station.
Visiting the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights in Brooklyn
This guide showed you how to visit the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights in Brooklyn.
Going to Dyker Heights is one of my favorite things to do in New York during the Christmas season. It’s such a fun experience, and if you’re visiting New York, it’s a great way to see a different side of the city.
Most people just stick to Manhattan on their Christmas trips to New York, but I highly recommend taking the time to visit Dyker Heights one evening for a magical Christmas experience like no other!
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