In a New York where traditional holiday performances are cancelled, Rockefeller Center tree viewings are timed and travel is ill-advised, it's beginning to feel a lot like the Covid Grinch stole Christmas. But in Brooklyn's illuminated Dyker Heights neighborhood, not even a pandemic can keep the festive spirit down.

The quasi-suburban residential district features large single-family homes that in late November start shimmering with elaborate holiday displays. This year tourism is reined in as are bus tours to the southwestern Brooklyn neighborhood that proudly displays its Italian-American heritage.