Today, my friend Sarah introduced me to the neighborhood of Dyker Heights in Brooklyn (it's waaaaaay the fuck out there, past Bay Ridge), which is known for it's um..."fantastic" X-mas light displays. The neighborhood was first developed in the 1890s as a WASP-y suburban enclave, full of beautiful and tastefully appointed Queen Anne estates like this one, and once dubbed "the handsomest suburb in Greater New York." And then, sometime around the 40's, the Italians moved in and changed all that. *cough cough* Not to sound too racist against Italian-Americans here - I do so love my Italian-American friends - but I often find their taste rather...questionable. There seems to be a "bigger is better" mentality, and a constant competitive streak that pervades their culture (at least here in the Northeast), resulting in a need to constantly outdo one's neighbor in tacky displays of wealth. It becomes immediately evident in the modern homes that have replaced the 19th century originals in Dyker Heights: horrible stone and concrete monstrocities, each bigger and more ridiculous than the last, and with yards full of fountains, statues, and gigantic stone lawn ornaments.
So, it's no surprise, then, that the X-mas displays are a tad...over the top. I think within a half-mile radius, there is probably enough electricity being wasted on X-mas displays to power the entire borough of Queens. It's pretty amazing, and by amazing, I mean terrible, and by terrible, I mean AMAZINGLY terrible! It was really extremely odd in a wonderful way to wander from house to house looking at these ridiculous displays and marvelling at the fact that we are, in fact, still in New York City. It definitely felt like we'd stepped into "Christmas Vacation" on crack. We just laughed and laughed, and froze our butts off. It was delightful. I hope to make it an annual holiday tradition to make a pilgrimmage to see the lights, and next year, I'll bring my nice camera (currently with Nate in China) and a wide angle lens to get some better shots. Here's a nice sampling below. Enjoy!
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| Tacky Xmas Lights in Dyker Heights |
1 comments:
Hey Mikey,
I was going to reply to your other post. I was waiting to see the pictures from Jessica's wedding, it looks like it was a very pretty wedding, everyone's hard work paid off. Congrats on your new choir and getting the walls painting, I guess I can keep that address for now. What is Nate doing in China? I don't remember hearing about this at all.
Love the Griswold pictures. We had one in Fenton for awhile, but this year they didn't put up a single light, someone must of complained and pissed them off. I believe last year we counted 27 blow ups on their property, including all over the tennis court. They actually had a path for visitors to walk through if they wanted. Just a little crazy. I can guarantee the McCs didn't go overboard!! :)
I hope you boys have a great Christmas in New York, I'll be thinking of you!!
Love, Carolita
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