For an NYC holiday experience with a personal, local flavor, A Slice of Brooklyn's Holiday Lights Bus Tour , which tours through the Brooklyn neighborhood of Dyker Heights, will have you saying "Rockefeller Center, fuggedabout it!" The company, which has been topping TripAdvisor's NYC sightseeing list for years now and has the 2017 Certificate of Excellence, was founded in 2005 by Brooklynite Tony Muia. Muia has crafted a series of other longtime succesful, curated tours of Brooklyn, including a pizza tour, a chocolate tour, and a neighborhood tour. But as you can imagine, the Holiday Lights tour really takes the cannoli, as it is only offered a month out of the year!
The memorable evening journey is very convenient. The 3 1/2 hour tour takes you roundtrip from Union Square on a luxury coach for a trip deep into the heart of Brooklyn, where you'll get to experience the local holiday spirit unlike anywhere else, making stops to walk around and take photos in famous Brooklyn neighborhjods Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Bensonhurst. If you love seeing holiday lights, this is a must. Clearly, the locals live for this holiday season, and pour their efforts into creating a winter wonderland like you've never seen. The tour brings together visitors from around the world; and even the bus ride alone offers some incredible views of the Manhattan skyline.
Each display is more elaborate than the last, often accompanied by music. In Dyker Heights, one of the stops includes visiting the home of Lucy Spata, who first began doing elaborate Christmas decorations back in the 1980s. Initially, Spata's neighbors were not impressed. The second year she was there, she brought out a marching band. Spata continues her elaborate Christmas lights today. When I asked our tour guide Angela about what she guessed Lucy's December electric bill cost, she said "probably somewhere in the ballpark of $8,000!" Across the way you'll get to see the Polizzotto home, that features the neighborhood's largest Santa Claus.
(In Bensonhurst, a gentleman regarded as "Sam the Greek" has an incredible display that is best described as "Christmas meets Las Vegas"!)
To further enhance the ride, you'll enjoy an audio-visual presentation throughout the tour that features vintage TV holiday classics from Elvis Presley, Judy Garland and Liza Minelli, Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, and Bing Crosby, among others.
A Slice of Brooklyn's Holiday Tour only runs in the month of December, and sells out quickly! For reservations, call 212-913-9917, or visit asliceofbrooklyn.com. Use this City Guide coupon and take $5 off your next tour!
