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Mostly Cloudy A ride through Valley Stream park sparks memories
Third part of a series
This series has touched on ways that organizations and people use social media to reach out and connect with other people, specifically on Facebook. The social networking site has been nothing short of a cultural phenomenon over the last few years, and there are no signs of it slowing down.
People like using Facebook for a host of reasons, but one of the more popular aspects of the site is the ability to easily share visual items. In the second part of this series, current and former Valley Stream residents discussed posting old photos of their hometown, sparking discussion after discussion with one another. Taking it a step further, videos of the area are also posted in Valley Stream groups and pages, but one resident’s videos in particular have garnered a lot of attention in recent weeks.
In late July, Peter Restivo posted a short video (view here) on his Facebook page that was quickly featured on the “Baby Boomer Growing Up in the 50’s 60’s & 70’s in Valley Stream” page. Restivo does not appear in the video himself — in fact no one does besides a few pedestrians and drivers. The star of the video is Central High School.
Restivo, a lifelong Valley Stream resident and 1965 graduate of Central, mounted his new GoPro camera on his bike’s handlebars and took a ride around the front of Central’s grounds. The video gives viewers a point-of-view of the site as if they’re the ones steering the bicycle. After more than 40 “likes” and 110 comments on the video, Restivo said it was a huge hit. “I put it up on Facebook and people went crazy,” he said.
He got the idea for the video after purchasing his new camera. “I realized that a lot of people on the Internet and Facebook are scattered all over the country and they don’t get to see what I see every day,” said Restivo, who lives within walking distance of Central. “I take it for granted.”
After getting some feedback, Restivo decided to take his bike and camera out once more, but this time he would tour all of Central’s grounds and go through Hendrickson Park as well. (View video here)
