QUEENS — That big tree in Midtown may draw major crowds, and the light display in Dyker Heights always draws attention, but the decorations in Queens are too spectacular to ignore.
DNAinfo New York has visited some of the best holiday light displays in the borough including a house with lights that dance with the Christmas music in Howard Beach, and an elaborate Christmas village in a Glendale garage.
► Howard Beach's Musical House
The white house at the corner of 97th Street and 165th Avenue, in Old Howard Beach, dances each Christmas season.
It's one of dozens of elaborately-decorated homes east of Cross Bay Boulevard, but it stands out because the lights are timed to the music — a mix of holiday classics — played on speakers outside; they turn off temporarily at the close of each song, ready for the next one.
A video of Santa is played in a window along 165th Avenue, next to a colorfully-lit Christmas tree. There are also remembrances of the holiday's religious roots, with "Keep Christ in Christmas" signs scattered across the lawn.
► Krieger's Village in Glendale
It takes Charlie Krieger three weeks to set up his Christmas decorations and the elaborate miniature village inside his garage. He first started "Krieger Village" 18 years ago around his house st the corner of 77th Street and 76th Avenue in Glendale, and it's grown every year.
"I love Christmas," he said. "And I love when the kids come."
In front of the house there's a singing Christmas tree and multiple singing Santas, two 12-feet-high inflatables and so many lights his electric bill triples during the holidays, he said.
He also decorates his neighbors' homes, using a front lawn adjacent to him as an extension of the village.
His favorite part of the whole village is the carnival town in the back of his garage, with a Ferris wheel and games. There is also a replica of Graceland, complete with a singing Elvis.
► Whitestone's Brightest House
Kevin Lynch, 55, started decorating his house at the corner of 166th Street and 23rd Avenue in Whitestone nearly two decades ago, as a friendly competition with his neighbor.
It's safe to say he's won.
"We started 17 years ago and every year it gets bigger and better," Lynch said, adding that he's gone "tastefully crazy" since first decorating the house.
Lynch starts hanging the lights in September, when it's still warm, starting on the roof and finishing it around Thanksgiving. The display stays up until Three Kings Day, which this year falls on Jan. 6.
The second-floor windows in his house display holiday movies, and every inch of grass is covered in figurines and light displays.
The festivities extend into the family's house, where the living room is filled with decorations and a 10-foot tree the family cuts down upstate, "like the Griswolds," Lynch said, referencing the Chevy Chase movie "Christmas Vacation."
Lynch's 10-year-old son Timmy, a fifth-grader at St. Luke School in Whitestone, transforms his bedroom into his own Christmas wonderland. He sleeps on the couch through the holidays and covers every inch— even his bed — with lights, Christmas displays and a snowy holiday village.
The Lynchs' hard work and love of Christmas have paid off — the family recently won $50,000 on ABC Family's "The Great Christmas Light Fight," beating families from across the country.
► Christmas in Jamaica Estates
A few blocks from busy Union Turnpike, the house at 185-07 80th Drive stands out as not just one of the only homes on the block that's lit up, but as one of the best in the city.
Anthony Gurino and his grandson, also named Anthony, decorate the house as well as the fence around the large property and the large tree, which can be seen from blocks away. There's a Nativity scene, as well as a few menorahs, and the family raises money for the charity Toys for Tots.
"My grandfather likes to give back to the community. And he loves Christmas," he said. "He just takes it to another level."
► Little North Pole, Neponsit
The real North Pole might be far from sandy shores, but Queens' Little North Pole is close to the beach.
Joe Mure, a criminal attorney, has been decorating his home at Beach 143rd Street and Neponsit Avenue on the Rockaway peninsula, for more than 20 years —and each year, the celebration gets bigger and bigger.
Mure's decorations are for a cause, too. Since starting the Little North Pole, he's donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, he said.
“Every year it just seems to get more special,” Mure told The Forum, “but what never changes is the magic. It’s always there.”