Dyker Heights is famous for its homeowners’ over-the-top Christmas lights extravaganza.
But this year the famed south Brooklyn neighborhood display is causing a stir — not because of all the wattage — but for the loss of residential parking spaces.
“No parking” signs, put up by cops from the local 68th Precinct, warn, “No Parking: Tour Buses Only” between 3 p.m. and midnight from Nov. 28 through Jan. 3, on the west side of 86th Street between 10th and 14th avenues.
“It’s not right,” said Orazio Arrabito, 47, who lives across the street from one of the no parking zones near 11th Avenue. “If these guys want to see the lights they can pay for parking. It’s an attraction. It’s got nothing to do with me.”
The tour bus companies are not paying the city for the spots, an NYPD spokesman said.
Joe Cantalupo, 60, said he’s concerned about the older residents.
“We’re not Grinches here, we like walking around checking the lights out, but the spots are needed by the elderly, the senior citizens,” Cantalupo said. “That’s taking away good parking for people on this block.”
The so-called “Dyker Lights” has increasingly attracted tours to the area over the past few years, including A Slice of Brooklyn Bus Tours, a local company that pioneered the tours of the neighborhood Christmas lights in 2007 and each year buses thousands of people to see the display.
“We’ve always respected the neighborhood. We’ve never had a problem,” said A Slice of Brooklyn owner Tony Muia, who blamed out-of-town tour companies as the “culprits” for the traffic nightmare that arises year after year.
“Every year we watch these companies come in and double park. They park in front of fire hydrants and block driveways,” said Muia, of neighboring Bay Ridge, who parks his tour bus on 86th Street and 12th Avenue and walks his group to 84th Street.
Community Board 10 manager Josephine Beckmann said, “It’s for safety reasons and that’s the bottom line, because we had so many buses coming in.” She said tour buses would back up on residential blocks and cause “gridlock.” “We had positive feedback from neighbors who said it did help.”
An NYPD spokesman agreed, explaining, “The parking restrictions are established to address traffic congestion and pedestrian safety in the area.”
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods