Remembering when Lou Reed was the King of Coney Island

Yesterday’s day of watching football/recovering from weekend-long hangovers was interrupted by the news of Lou Reed’s death. Reed, 71, was born in Brooklyn before being raised in Freeport, Long Island. But like so many bored restless kids before him came back to the city to seek is fortune, and he found it. As a leader of the Velvet Underground, he became a man who pioneered professionally not giving a shit. His music, with the Velvets and professionally hummed with life, but through it all, Reed seemed non-plussed. Even surrounded by the insanity of the Mermaid Parade, where he played the role of King Neptune in 2010. For anyone else, looking that bored surrounded by the fun and colors of the day would seem haughty, but would you really expect Lou Reed to look any different from this? Reed is survived by his wife, performance artist Laurie Anderson and the tens of thousands of bands people formed after hearing their first Velvet Underground song.