There are, according to Tony Muia, several misconceptions about Dyker Heights and the extravagant Christmas decorations that appear along its blocks every year. For one, residents are under no obligation to festoon their homes and lawns with lights and animatronic characters—a tradition that dates to 1986, when Lucy Spata arrived in the neighborhood and saw no option but to go all out with her holiday decor. And while the area’s most enthusiastic celebrants cocoon their houses in bulbs that switch on as soon as the sun goes down, their electric bills aren’t astronomical. “For quite a few years now, it’s been LED lights,” says Muia, who owns a Slice of Brooklyn Bus Tours, which each Christmas guides visitors through Dyker Heights’ brightly lit streets.
Muia’s been showing outsiders around the area for almost 20 years. He’s seen legendary houses bought and sold and professional decorators build thriving businesses, all while the tradition that’s become synonymous with the neighborhood has continued to grow. If there’s anyone qualified to talk about covering a large Brooklyn property in colored lights and all that comes with it, it’s him.
I know that a woman named Lucy Spata is seen as the originator of the Dyker Heights Christmas decorating tradition, but what’s your connection with it? Did you grow up in the neighborhood?
I grew up in Bensonhurst. I knew [Lucy ] because I worked with her sister, but you always knew that Lucy decorated. She did it [for] a couple of reasons. One is, you know, her mother used to decorate, and she continued the tradition. And when she first did it, when she first came to Dyker Heights, they didn’t like the commotion that the cars were causing by slowing down to look at the lights. And people would knock on her door and ask her to take down the lights. And her response to them was, “You don’t like it? Move.”
Lucy will tell you the reason she did it is because she felt bad for those people who are less fortunate and couldn’t go to Rockefeller Center and experience the tree. And she wanted to bring some of that joy to Brooklyn, to those less fortunate. And then, when you get when to some of the stories, you realize that a lot of these people you know are doing it in memory of loved ones or to continue a tradition.
Lucy is sort of the shy person, but over the years, we’ve done so many news segments.
I was looking them up. There’s a bunch.
During the Nightline segment, she admitted that the house now it’s in her will that any of the kids who get the house have to continue decorating.
If I were to buy a house in the neighborhood, would I be expected to decorate it for Christmas?
As far as moving to the neighborhood, there’s a couple of things. Obviously, the people who decorate realize what is involved, and they’re OK with it. The people that don’t decorate, there’s always been friction about that. What happens is, you have people that move in and then jump into the tradition. If people move there, the prerogative of theirs. There is no pressure where someone says, “Oh, that person’s not decorating.” It’s never been that. It’s never been a competition kind of a thing.
There’s a house on the corner of 83rd Street and 12th. Has a gazebo in front; they used to decorate it beautifully. To me, it was one of the iconic homes of Dyker Heights. That family sold the house; the new family hasn’t done anything. No one’s knocking on their door saying, you know, we need you to step up your decorating game.
No one’s knocking on their door saying, you know, we need you to step up your decorating game.
What do people’s electric bills look like?
For quite a few years now, it’s been LED lights. The answer you get the most is it’s no more expensive than running the air conditioner all summer long. They have the lights on timers. So even if they’re not home, the lights go on at 5, 5:30, when it’s dark.
There’s been constant rumors—oh my God, I don’t which magazine started this rumor, but I literally had to dispute it on Facebook this week. Someone will ask what time the lights go off. And someone said 9 p.m. And I’m like, seriously? We’re still doing tours at 9 p.m. Those lights have stayed on past midnight—1, 2 in the morning—because, again, first and foremost, these people are doing it for themselves.
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Do people keep blackout curtains to be able to sleep?
I don’t think so. I haven’t seen any blackout curtains in any windows. And you have to also realize, these streets, they’re not narrow streets. So if a house across the street has the lights, it’s not like, you know, you’re facing something like a neon sign, like, like, you know that’s right outside your window.
But even if it’s your own house—
I haven’t heard of anybody doing [that]. They’re enjoying this. It’s not a nuisance to them. It’s just the joy of the holiday.
I also heard that people knock on doors to ask to use the bathroom.
This is a residential neighborhood. You have to respect it. And so now there’s a designated area where buses have to drop off and things like that, which is great, but there have been, over the years, pedestrians from Brooklyn that I’ve watched leave trash, like coffee cups that they’ve come with, on people’s steps. I’ve seen them go up onto the properties to take pictures with the decorations, and I’d be yelling at them and flashing my flashlight.
I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve yelled at people. You just have rude people. The dinosaurs are extinct, and, unfortunately, common sense is extinct, too, or almost extinct.
These houses are enormous. There’s no way someone’s getting on a ladder like Clark Griswold and decorating them.
Are people sometimes condescending about the decorations?
Over the years, I’ve seen people come in and, you know, comment on things being tacky. And, you know, I have to make a comment: If it’s tacky, then just leave. Just go home. Because I know the passion that goes into it. Maybe it’s tacky to you, but these people put up these lights because it’s a holiday. It’s in honor of loved ones.
Is there like a date when people are expected to have their stuff up?
Lucy and I, we’re sort of on the same page. Christmas starts the night of Thanksgiving. I don’t want to hear any music until after Santa comes down the Macy’s Parade. Then it’s the official season.
It’s not a new industry, but over the years, there are two main decorators in Dyker Heights. One is James [Bonavita], who owns B&R. The other is DiMeglio Decorators. Yes, you have homeowners who do them themselves. But these houses are enormous. There’s no way someone’s getting on a ladder like Clark Griswold and decorating them.
With all the lights, and then to keep them on for the season, what do you think these decorations cost?
I really can’t tell you. I never really ask anyone. It just was never really something. But I’ve heard numbers thrown around from 3,000 to 5,000 to 7,000 to 10,000 or more, depending on the house. I’m not sure where these houses fall in that, because some of them just have trim. It’s not every square inch. I’m sure it’s more to wrap every single branch of a tree, which looks amazing.
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