Resident’s Holiday Lights Map Grows

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By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

Jonathan Dignam, of Commack, continues to grow his map of nearby houses decked out in holiday decorations.

The idea started back in November 2015, and Dignam has grown it ever since. He and his family originally used it to make their decoration-admiring trips more convenient, but Dignam eventually made it public and added to the list through Facebook, local news outlets and other websites.

Dignam said that project, which is run through Google Maps, has garnered nearly 106,000 views in the past year, bringing the total to 235,782 views.

There are around 725 houses across Nassau and Suffolk counties, and a few further west in the New York City area, but the total tends to fluctuate throughout the year, Dignam said.

“It’s from me deleting a whole bunch of houses and then adding a bunch of houses because sometimes people move,” Dignam, Commack, 43, said. “I drive around a lot, but it’s really a community type of thing — a lot of it is based on people’s observations. I rely a lot on people sending me information too.”

As for the Town of Huntington, Dignam’s list includes around 52 homes across Commack, Dix Hills, East Northport, Elwood, Greenlawn, Halesite, Huntington, Huntington Station, South Huntington and West Hills. Commack’s appears to be the most festive of the bunch with 26 houses listed.

In addition to the Google Map itself, Dignam also maintains a spreadsheet with addresses and information on homes that collect donations for charity.

“I also tweaked some things so this way it was more Mapquest friendly,” he added. “This way they can copy addresses in their town, paste it into Map Quest and it automatically calculates the most efficient route for 25 houses.”

The map also lists different holiday decorating events as well, such as the Huntington Lighthouse Boat Parade, which made a return this year.

As the list continues to grow, Dignam said the community outreach has grown stronger as well.

“People are very appreciative, they’re sharing it with their friends, which is fantastic,” he said. “There’s so many houses out there that aren’t on the map so the more people that share it, the more houses I get from them.”

To reach out to Dignam, email jonmtme@yahoo.com. To view the Google Map, visit Bit.ly/2AuJ8g9.