Updated November 4, 2026 · by the Stride Stories team · every fact checked against a source
Dyker Heights is a neighborhood of big houses and tree-lined streets in southwest Brooklyn, and it's best known for one thing: the Christmas lights and decorations its residents put up each year. The whole community takes part, not just one home or one block, and that's what makes it worth the trip.
This guide follows our tour Dyker Heights Lights Walk, a 1.16-mile walk that starts at 86th Street and 10th Avenue, by Dyker Beach Park. It climbs 10th Avenue to the hilltop at 11th Avenue, heads east along 84th Street through the brightest blocks to 13th Avenue, loops back along 85th Street, and comes down 12th Avenue to finish at 13th Avenue and 86th Street.
Before you go: practical tips
- When the lights are up. The displays go up around Thanksgiving and stay until the first days of January. A local council member has described a season of about 40 days, starting the day after Thanksgiving.
- Pick your night. Mid-December is when the most visitors come. If you'd rather have room on the sidewalk, try earlier in the season, and plan to arrive after dark.
- Expect company. Estimates vary, but at a 2019 City Council hearing the lights were said to draw about 150,000 visitors a season, with tour buses from Long Island, New Jersey and overseas.
- Don't count on street food. A 2019 city law bans street vending in the blocks between 10th and 13th Avenues and 81st and 86th Streets, from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, between 2 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Getting there by subway and bus
The center of Dyker Heights isn't served directly by the subway. Depending on where you're headed, it's a 15 to 20 minute walk from a station in a neighboring area. In Bay Ridge, the R train stops at 86th Street on Fourth Avenue. In Bensonhurst, the D train stops at 79th Street. Several local bus routes and two express buses, the X28 and X38, also serve the neighborhood. Streets get crowded on December nights, so transit is the easier choice.
Be a good guest
These are private homes, and the people who live in them are the reason the lights exist. At that 2019 hearing, the local council member said the vast majority of residents still love the lights and cherish the tradition. What wears them out is the sheer number of visitors. So enjoy the show from the sidewalk. Stay off lawns, steps and driveways, don't block anyone's car, keep your voice down as it gets late, and take your trash with you.
The walk, stop by stop
Mile 0.0: Dyker Beach Park
Look across the green toward the brick clubhouse. In 1895 the city of Brooklyn started a seaside park here on Gravesend Bay, and an 1896 parks report promised it would be the "finest seaside park in the world." Today it's home to a public golf course. In the 1950s and 1960s it was reported to be the world's busiest, with over 100,000 rounds a year. Earl Woods, Tiger's father, learned the game here in 1972.
Mile 0.3: The hilltop
At 11th Avenue and 82nd Street you're on top of a hill about 110 feet high, the highest natural point in southwest Brooklyn. In October 1895 a developer named Walter Loveridge Johnson began Dyker Heights here as a luxury suburb. He advertised it as the "handsomest suburb in Greater New York." Of the roughly 150 homes he first built, about half remain.
Mile 0.6: 84th Street, the heart of the lights
The blocks of 84th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues are the best-known part of the show, and the most prominent homes sit between 83rd and 86th Streets and 11th and 13th Avenues. Many displays aren't put up by the homeowners at all. Most are installed by local decorating companies, at a cost of anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 or more.
Nobody is sure which December it all began, but reports point to the 1980s. The story usually told is that one resident started it in 1986, when she noticed there were no decorations on her block, and the neighbors joined in. As early as 1985, a guide named Lou Singer was running tours of the best-lit corners of southern Brooklyn.
Mile 0.7: The Home for Blind Babies
Near 13th Avenue, a quieter story. Nothing of the original house remains, and no plaque marks the spot. It began with Christmas cards: Cynthia Alden started sending cards and gifts to people who couldn't leave home, and her International Sunshine Society grew to a peak of half a million members. In 1906 the society opened the Home for Blind Babies on this block, and in 1907 it helped set up what's usually described as the first public kindergarten for blind children.
Mile 1.2: Dyker Heights Boulevard
At 13th Avenue and 86th Street, check the street signs. They also say Dyker Heights Boulevard, a second name the city added in 2001. This is the neighborhood's only commercial district, with many Italian-owned businesses, and a good place to find something warm. In 1898 the grand Dyker Heights Club opened its clubhouse on this corner. It was torn down in 1929.
Hear it as you walk
You can walk this route with a map and this page. Or let the stories come to you: in the Stride Stories app, Dyker Heights Lights Walk plays five short stories as you reach each place, timed to your pace. Your music drops under each story and comes back after, and the optional soundtrack is all holiday classics, from Andy Williams's "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You." The tour page estimates a 23-minute walk, which leaves plenty of time to linger at the brightest houses.
© OpenStreetMapMaking a day of it in Brooklyn? See our Prospect Park running guide or our guide to running the Brooklyn Bridge. For a walk on the other side of the river, try our self-guided walking tour of Lower Manhattan.
When are the Dyker Heights Christmas lights up?
From around Thanksgiving until the first days of January. Mid-December is the busiest time.
Where are the best Dyker Heights lights?
Start on 84th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. The most prominent homes sit between 83rd and 86th Streets and 11th and 13th Avenues.
How do I get to Dyker Heights by subway?
No subway runs through the center of the neighborhood. Take the R train to 86th Street in Bay Ridge or the D train to 79th Street in Bensonhurst, then walk 15 to 20 minutes, or take a local bus.
Can I walk up to the houses?
Please don't. These are private homes, so enjoy the displays from the sidewalk and stay off lawns, steps and driveways.
Hear the stories as you pass them
Stride Stories plays each place's story as you reach it, timed to your pace, and lowers your music while it talks. Tours download to your phone and work without a connection.