Dyker Heights has a suburban character with detached and semi-detached one-and two-family homes, many of which have driveways and private yards, which are uncommon in parts of New York City.

[6] Since this was the tallest natural point in southwest Brooklyn, he built his homestead here – it afforded a clear view of the harbor and its defenses, especially Fort Hamilton which was complete by November 1831.

[7] De Russy died in 1865 and his wife, Helen, sold the property in 1888 to Jane Elisabeth Loveridge and Frederick Henry Johnson.

With this in mind, he most likely purchased the De Russy estate with the intention of building an upscale residential neighborhood similar to Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea, built by James D. Lynch in 1880–1890 in the Bath Beach section of New Utrecht.

"[10] The restrictions placed upon the property made Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea "a model settlement, where some of the most refined, intelligent and cultured of New York City and Brooklyn's citizens have built their homes.

He advertised his suburban homes heavily and stated that the high ground, magnificent ocean view, and careful restrictions made Dyker Heights the handsomest suburb in Greater New York.

"Mr. Johnson has met with great success in the development of Dyker Heights and had probably done more business and made more sales during the past year than all the rest of the surrounding settlements combined.

"[14] Still more praise in February 1899, "Dyker Heights has been one of the most successful and the most rapid in growth of any of the suburban settlements, over one hundred dwellings, costing from $5,000 to $25,000 each, having been erected there within the last two years.

The rare opportunities afforded by Dyker Heights to the wealthy and to those in moderate circumstances are due largely to the energy, enterprise and good taste of its founder, Mr. Walter L.

"[17] The article also explained the exclusiveness of the property, which can be seen in "its massive stone piers with heavy wrought-iron lamps and scrolls" that adorn the entrances.

[17] In December 1899 the Brooklyn Eagle reported that, "work has recently been commenced upon thirty high-class Houses, the demand for which runs a dead heat with the supply.

However, the most desirable feature of the area was still the "uninterrupted view of the lower bay from The Narrows to Sandy Hook and Atlantic Ocean, [which] is one of the most magnificent in the country, and nowhere else in the consolidated city is there anything to compare it with.

Cynthia W. Alden, Mary C. Seward, and other society officers worked with the New York City Board of Education to establish the first public kindergarten for blind children at the home in 1907.

[20] The original building is gone, but the work begun in Dyker Heights provided a legacy of significant reforms in the public education of blind children within New York and other regions of the United States.

[9] By spring of 1898 the club had a $30,000 clubhouse designed by Albert Edward Parfitt on an $8,500 lot, measuring 200×200, located on the northeast corner of 13th Avenue and 86th Street.

Johnson moved his real estate office into the clubhouse and hired a full-time architect, Constantine Schubert, who was also a Dyker Heights homeowner.

This grand, neo-classical building was demolished in 1929 by the Archbishop John Hughes Knights of Columbus Club, when they acquired the property for $60,000.

However, the boundaries of the Neighborhood of Dyker Heights are now defined by the Dyker Heights Post Office on the northwest corner of 13th and 84th Streets; along its northeast edge runs Bay Ridge Avenue; 16th Avenue is its southeast boundary; Fort Hamilton makes its southwest border; and Interstate 278 is the northwest limit.

[27] In 2018, an estimated 19% of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City.

Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city.

For instance, I. M. De Varona was engineer of the Water Bureau, Clarence Barrow was ex-Fire Commissioner, William C. Bryant was current Fire Commissioner, George W. Dickinson was a cotton-goods merchant, W. Bennett Wardell was a retired judge, Richard Perry Chittenden was Assistant of the Corporation Counsel, Freeland Willcox was Secretary of the Cheeseborough Vaseline Company, and Eugene Boucher was longshoreman and insurance broker.

"[28] By 1940 Dyker Heights was inhabited by a majority of people of Italian descent many of whom helped establish the Roman Catholic Shrine Church of Saint Bernadette (ca.

[40][41] Since those initial 1980 reports, the lights of Dyker Heights have become increasingly popular with New Yorkers as newspaper articles, news programs, documentaries, and remotes were created.

[45] The white mansion, owned by Alfred Polizzotto and his family, was adorned with a pair of 29-foot (8.8 m) high wooden soldiers which stood guard and wave their arms.

[46][47] In 1996, the Casos, who moved to Dyker Heights in 1995 and have since relocated, had Midwood artist Carl Oliveri design Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", which included 29 life-size figures on their front lawn at 1062 84th St.[48] The neighborhood is part of New York's 11th congressional district, represented by Republican Nicole Malliotakis as of 2021[update].

[24]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights is 0.0074 milligrams per cubic metre (7.4×10−9 oz/cu ft), lower than the citywide and boroughwide averages.

[64] Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights generally has a similar ratio of college-educated residents to the rest of the city as of 2018[update].

[65] Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights' rate of elementary school student absenteeism is lower than the rest of New York City.

[76] The center of Dyker Heights is not served directly by the New York City Subway, but its neighboring communities are; It can range from a 15-20 minute walk to a station in Bay Ridge, Borough Park or Bensonhurst depending on where in the neighborhood you are.

[77] The far south end of Borough Park is served by the BMT Sea Beach Line (N and ​W trains), with stations at Fort Hamilton Parkway and New Utrecht Avenue.