Queens’ Christmas corner cuts the lights to stop the spread of COVID-19

Retired firefighter Kevin Lynch’s home in Whitestone in a pre-COVID Christmas season. Photo by Walter Karling

By David Brand

The Christmas capital of Queens is cutting the lights to stop the spread of the coronavirus this year.

Retired firefighter Kevin Lynch and his family decided not to set up the elaborate lighting displays that have gained them international attention and thousands of weekly visitors every winter for the past several years.

Lynch said they wanted to discourage visitors from flocking to their home in Whitestone and spreading the coronavirus.

“It only makes sense. I have thousands of people coming, tour buses, and they’re going to take their masks off to take pictures,” Lynch said. 

“The three most important things are protecting our family, the neighbors and the community.”

Lynch’s home this year.

Lynch has been decorating his home at 23rd Avenue and 166th Street for more than 25 years. In 2013, his design earned first prize and a check for $50,000 on ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight.” 

Holiday tourists frequently head to Whitestone from their Manhattan hotels to get a glimpse of the legendary lighting. Lynch said travelers from Russia, Ireland and other countries tell him they have seen his house on TV on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Instead of an all-out extravaganza, Lynch and his son Timothy, 17, set up a modest display this year. He said he was disappointed to put the tradition on hold, especially since Timothy has taken the lead on planning and construction the past couple years. 

The holiday lights they bought the day after Christmas last year will remain in storage until 2021, he said. 

Lynch announced the decision to temper the tradition on Facebook last month, with several users thanking him for suspending the tradition in the name of public health.

“It’s with a heavy heart that I’m posting this but The Lynch Family will not be not be decorating this year,” he wrote on Facebook last month. “We get thousands of people that come by to see our decorations but with COVID still around it would be terrible  and disrespectful if we weren’t responsible for my Family, Community and Especially my neighbors.”

Lynch told the Eagle that he and Timothy will revive the tradition next year — just in time for a second round of the ABC reality show. Producers approached them about defending their title in the next iteration of the contest.

“Next year be prepared to see a BIGGER and BRIGHTER Lynch family display,” Lynch wrote on Facebook. “Be safe everyone and have a healthy and happy holidays.”