COURIER LIFE, NOV. 27-DEC. 3, 2020 5
HOLIDAYS
continues amid COVID
orating company DiMeglio
Decorators — one of two companies
many locals hire to
build their displays — said
that business is booming this
year, despite the pandemic.
“It’s busy,” said the
worker, who was installing
a display outside a home on
12th Avenue and 84th Street
with three other workers on
Nov. 24, and who didn’t give
his name. “I got three or four
houses today.”
DiMeglio’s competitor,
B&R Christmas Decorators,
also said they’ve had a particularly
hectic season.
“It’s almost busier this
year. We are completely
booked out for our calendar,”
said Kristen, an employee at
the company who did not give
her last name. “Even with
COVID and everything, it’s
been good.”
One particularly popular
display on 84th Street,
which is said to have started
the Dyker Lights tradition
in 1986, is already set for the
holiday season. The decorations,
which resident Lucy
Spata has displayed since she
moved to the neighborhood,
feature her army of large toy
soldiers and two-story-tall
nutcrackers, snowmen, and
reindeer.
Other homes in the area
have large nativity scenes in
their front lawns, archways
cloaked with wreaths, and
statues of reindeer pulling
sleighs, among other decorations.
One homeowner, whose
84th Street house was decked
out in wreaths, red and white
ornaments, and wire statues,
said that he scaled back
his decorations this year because
of the virus.
“I didn’t put out all my
stuff this year,” said Bobby
Kull, adding that he won’t
display his eight-foot-tall
Santa Claus, a sleigh, and
other large statues. “I really
don’t want people all over my
property with everything
that’s going on.”
Kull said that spectators
often climb on the statues
or walk up the stairs of his
house to get a good picture.
This year, he plans to put
tape across the front of his
house to prevent onlookers
from getting too close.
“During Halloween, everyone
taped off their entryways,
so I’m going to do the
same,” he said.
Bus tours still plan to
bring visitors to view Dyker
Lights in December, but many
have reduced their buses’ capacity,
required that customers
wear face masks, and
instituted other safety measures
to prevent the spread of
COVID-19.
Beckmann said that the
buses won’t be allowed to
traverse the main corridor,
and that sanitation offi cials
will place garbage cans on
each corner to prevent trash
build-up, as they have in previous
years.
She said that local agencies
are most worried about
traffi c, since many visitors
will most likely opt to travel
to the area by car, but said
that the local precinct will
coordinate traffi c enforcement
with other agencies.
“It’s a really big unknown,
but all the agencies involved
are ready to be helpful in case
we need additional resources
in terms of traffi c control,”
Beckmann said.