Getting to the Dyker Heights lights on the subway
Dyker Heights is a long subway ride from Midtown, roughly 45 minutes to an hour door to door, and the stations sit a walk away from the lit streets. It is cheap and perfectly doable. This guide covers the two trains, the walk, the trip home late at night and when a tour is the simpler choice.
Two trains that get you close
No subway line stops in the middle of the displays. The two usual choices are the R train to 86th Street in Bay Ridge and the D train to 79th Street on the Bensonhurst side.
The R runs local under Broadway in Midtown, so it is easy to board near Times Square. The trade-off is a slow ride, because it stops often. The D runs along Sixth Avenue and moves faster once it reaches Brooklyn.
Either way, allow roughly 45 minutes to an hour from Midtown to the lit blocks, walk included. Late in the evening trains run less often, so add a margin for the wait on the platform.
If you want background on the neighborhood itself, the Wikipedia page on Dyker Heights places it between Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst. Our history guide tells how the lights started.
The walk from the station
From either station it is roughly 15 to 25 minutes on foot to the main displays. Your pace and the corner you aim for decide where in that range you land. The streets in between are residential and quiet, and fairly dark at night.
The densest displays fill the blocks from 11th to 13th Avenue between 83rd and 86th Street. Set your phone map to the central corner of 84th Street and 12th Avenue and work outward from there.
From the R station you walk east, away from the shops of Bay Ridge and up through quieter streets. From the D station you come from the other side, through a stretch of Bensonhurst, and reach the grid from its eastern edge.
Neither route is better in itself. Pick the train closest to your hotel, then use the other station on the way home if it suits your route back.
Once you arrive you will walk for another hour at least, so the station walk adds up. Comfortable waterproof boots matter more than anything else you pack, as our guide to dressing for the cold explains.
Taxi or rideshare
A cab or a rideshare from Manhattan is possible and spares you the station walk. The catch is December traffic, which can slow the ride badly on the bridges and the expressway on a busy evening.
The drop-off is easy. Getting a car back late at night can be harder because many drivers are already busy with the crowds. Expect a wait or a surge price at the end of the night.
Parking your own car is a poor idea. Spaces are scarce on these residential streets, and blocking a driveway annoys people who live there, a point our etiquette guide covers in more detail.
Getting home late
The walk back to the station feels longer at 9 pm than it did at 6 pm, especially after an hour on your feet in freezing air. Plan the return before you set out, not on a cold corner.
Remember the station you came from and stick together if you are a group. Children flag quickly on the way back, which is one reason our guide to visiting with kids leans toward a tour.
Keep a charged phone for the map and the train times. Cold drains batteries faster than you expect, and a dead phone on a dark side street is no fun at all.
Walking tours that meet in Brooklyn
Some operators run walking tours of about 1.5 hours that meet in Brooklyn near the lights. You still take the subway there and back yourself, but a guide leads the walk and tells the stories.
These sit between going alone and a full bus tour in price and effort. They suit confident subway riders who want commentary without the ride from Midtown.
Why many visitors still book a tour
The subway is cheap, but a dark route through the cold and the crowds wears people down. A tour also brings a guide's stories and a stop for the Manhattan skyline, which a solo trip rarely includes.
Scatto a New York's bus from ~$63 leaves from 566 10th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen, parks next to the lit streets and walks you through them for about an hour. Afterward it stops at Brooklyn Bridge Park and finishes at Bryant Park.
Skip the platforms and the walk from the station
A coach from Hell's Kitchen to the lit streets, an hour on foot with a guide and a ride back to Bryant Park at the end.
The trade-off is cost and freedom. Our price comparison sets the fare against a subway ride, and on a tour you cannot linger at one house for as long as you like.
A simple plan for a night on your own
- Eat in Manhattan or in Bay Ridge first, since the lit blocks have few places to sit down
- Take the R or the D around dusk, so you arrive with the displays switched on
- Walk to 84th Street and 12th Avenue, then loop the blocks from 83rd to 86th Street
- Leave before the late crowds peak and walk back the way you came
For the order of the streets, read our guide to the brightest blocks. For dates and hours, the guide to the calmer nights shows when the crowds thin out.