Dyker Heights is a predominantly residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is on a hill between Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Gravesend Bay. The neighborhood is bounded by 7th and 14th Avenues, 65th Street, and the Belt Parkway on the west, east, north, and south, respectively.
Dyker Heights originated as a speculative luxury housing development in October 1895 when Walter Loveridge Johnson developed a portion of woodland into a suburban community. It maintained its status as a wealthy neighborhood through the 20th century. During the height of his development, the boundaries were primarily between Tenth and Thirteenth Avenues and from 79th Street to 86th Street. The finest homes of the development were situated along the top of the 110-foot (34 m) hill, at about Eleventh Avenue and 82nd Street.
Dyker Heights has a suburban character with detached and semi-detached one-and two-family homes, many of which have driveways and private yards, which are uncommon in parts of New York City. The neighborhood contains tree-lined streets, and there are very few apartment buildings. Dyker Heights can be divided in roughly three sections. The southernmost section, south of 86th Street and east of 7th Avenue, contains Dyker Beach Park and Golf Course. The central section between Bay Ridge Parkway and 86th Street, and between 14th Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway, is more exclusive in character. The northern border of the neighborhood is more closely integrated with surrounding areas. The Dyker Heights Civic Association, founded in 1928, is a civic group that represents the community’s interests. The area as a whole is known for its Christmas lighting displays, which are often elaborate.
Dyker Heights is now most famous for its Christmas lights and decorations erected each year by its residents. It has been called “Con Ed’s warmest heartthrob,” the “undisputed capital of Christmas pageantry,” and the “king of the Christmas lights.” Christmas lights are now the core of the Dyker Heights identity, because the whole community, not just one home or one block, participates. As such, Dyker Heights has been referred to as “an epicenter of professionally-hung Christmas lights”. 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.
Although in which December the lights began is unclear, newspaper reports and tours of the area suggest it started sometime in the 1980s. In 1985 one Lou Singer began running tours (Singer’s Brooklyn) through the most elaborately light parts of Bensonhurst, Canarsie, Bay Ridge, and Dyker Heights where one could find “designer lighting.” Since those initial 1980 reports, the lights of Dyker Heights have become increasingly more popular with New Yorkers as countless newspaper articles, news programs, documentaries, and remotes were created. Early on, the two most noted homes were on 84th Street, between 11th and 12th avenues, directly across from one another. The home of Lucy Spata with her Santa theme at 1152 84th St and that of Alfred Polizzotto with his Nutcracker motif at 1145 84th St.