Yeshiva Battles Cherokee for Parking Spot and Home

Ed Rice's Car

"The school assumes that that they own everything in the neighborhood," says Ed Rice. "But they don’t own my property, and they don’t own me! That’s where the conflict began."

Members of the YU administration say that Ed Rice is "dangerous" and a "psychiatric case," who ought to be "institutionalized." They want him forcibly removed from campus.

In pending litigation, YU lawyers will ask the court to do just that. A high-ranking member of the administration, who requested anonymity (for obvious reasons) said, "I want nothing to do with that dangerous son-of-a-bitch," and explained that lawyers would argue that "Ed Rice is a persistent danger to the students of Yeshiva University."

Ed Rice's House

Ed Rice vehemently disputes these charges made against him by the Yeshiva University administration. He asserts that he is a "normal" person, and he responded to Yeshiva allegations by saying, "They are full of (expletive deleted)." He continued, "They (the Yeshiva administration) think that the spot is theirs, that this house is theirs – hell, they think that I’m theirs . . . Let’s see them try to take me!"

Mr. Rice lives directly across the street from Furst Hall, at 519 185th street. His house and his parking spot are highly conspicuous.

His house is sand-colored, four-stories tall, and has a quaint little gate in front of it. From the side of the house hang three flags: an American flag, a flag of the US Army, and the flag of pirate ships – the skull and crossbones. Large crucifixes and other mysterious objects are visible through the windows. In bold black print, two wooden signs posted on his second floor porch read, "WALKING HAWK," and "OMEGA I." Often, especially during the summer time, hard rock music blasts out from within the house. A sign on the inner door of the house advises people not to trespass: it says, "Anyone Violating The Peace Will Be Eaten."

But Ed Rice’s house has not angered Yeshiva University officials as much as his car has. Ed Rice’s car, a 1972 red Stag – a British sports car made by the makers of Jaguar – is parked in the middle of parking lot A of Yeshiva University! It is set off from the other cars in the lot by bright yellow paint, a pile of yellow bricks, and several wooden barrels. YU officials claim that the whole lot is theirs. One official said, "This guy woke up one morning – probably was having a bad day – and he decided to set up a garden in our parking lot. It is not his property." Mr. Rice says that it is his property. And he added that when YU set up barriers along 185th street, thus eliminating all the parking spots, they made an agreement with his mother that her family could use parking lot A. "I used to have several cars and trucks parked there," Mr. Rice says, "but when my mother died, they reneged on the agreement."

Two years ago, the squabble between YU administrators and Mr. Rice over the parking lot exploded into a forceful confrontation. The Dean of Libraries, Pearl Berger, parked her car near Mr. Rice’s. Her windshield was smashed by a rock. A YU security guard said that he saw Mr. Rice throw the rock, and YU officials alleged that Mr. Rice was angered by the proximity of Pearl Berger’s car to his own.

The incident made news in The Commentator. This newspaper ran a headline proclaiming "Police Arrest Crazed Vandal." Ed Rice’s name was not printed "as per request of the authorities," but a photograph of Mr. Rice being led away from his house in handcuffs was displayed next to the article. The majority of the information for the article was provided by YU Security Chief Don Sommers. He characterized the "vandal" as "emotionally disturbed," and then he went on to say that Mr. Rice has been a danger to YU, ever since his mother passed away and stopped giving him his medicine. "With this guy, you never know what to expect," Sommers declared.

Ed Rice was charged with criminal mischief, and officials say that he was ordered to pay for damages done to the car.

Officials at YU said that numerous other confrontations have erupted because Ed Rice has disturbed YU employees and students. Two years ago, he supposedly fought with a YU security guard over a "tennis ball." In another incident, he reportedly chased a person down 185th street with a machete. In addition, YU employees who park in parking lot A have complained that he videotapes them from the roof of his house. Yeshiva Security Chief Don Sommers warned all students to "stay far away" from this man. And a rumor circulating among YU employees says that Jeffrey Socol, Associate Director of Facilities Management, never parks his car in parking lot A, because he is afraid of the next door neighbor. An official described him as, "totally crazy . . . an absolute danger to the students and society . . . unpredictable . . . and definitely not a good neighbor."

Mr. Rice denied the veracity of the charges leveled against him, and he said that he is not even excessively "upset" at YU for attacking him. In response to the rock-tossing incident, he said, "Kids throwing rocks broke that lady’s windshield . . . Dominicans have rock fights." (YU students support Ed Rice’s claim that Dominican kids do have rock fights. A RIETS student even said that he has seen kids tossing rocks down from the elevation above parking lot A.) "Does it make sense to you," Mr. Rice asked, "that I would break a woman’s windshield on my property? The kid who wrote that article spoke to everyone but me."

It was because YU officials made him pay for the damage done to Pearl Berger's car that Mr. Rice put up barriers in the parking lot. "After that," he said, "No more Mr. Nice Guy!… What is it they say? High walls make good neighbors?"

Mr. Rice also defended himself against other charges. "I’m the nicest guy you ever met in your life, [Red]," he said, "but I live my life not to offend anyone; in return, I don’t want anyone to offend me." He continued, asserting, "What they said I am, I am not. It’s a propaganda campaign against me; the incidents were perpetrated by them against me to make me seem crazy . . . I am not upset. I very well understand the students. But, if the administration wants me to go, buy the property from me and I’ll leave . . . they don’t want to come and legitimately negotiate for it, so they resort to this."

In interviews with this reporter, Ed Rice denied what he termed "malicious slander" hurled against him by the Yeshiva administration. He was deeply offended, and said that he was completely "normal."

Ed Rice, in addition, did not want this article to go to print. It is not that he so greatly feared the Yeshiva University lawyers that he did not want to add material to their case. ("You see me here on my land," he said, asking wondrously, "how are they going to take this away from me?") Rather, Ed’s main concern over the printing of the article was not for himself. He urged that the article not be printed because he thought that YU officials might try to "ruin" this reporter’s life. He said, "Do not print the article [Red] without first asking for your father’s permission."

The following information was gathered through personal interviews with him, from information provided by the company overview of Walking Hawk, Inc., and from information about Ed Rice on the Internet at www.catchafire.com.

Ed Rice is a remarkable man. Dark-skinned, he says he is a "rich mixture of African and Cherokee." Of his Native American heritage he said, "We were here 400 years before the revolution." Standing over 6 feet tall and possessing striking features, a female employee on campus described Mr. Rice as, "very handsome." He is eloquent and well educated, possessing, he claims, a DDS, a Masters degree in art, and a doctorate in electrical engineering. He maintains that he is a "Blackfoot Cherokee Indian Chief," who can "both speak and write the language." In his house, a large collection of bow and arrows are a strong testament to his feelings for his heritage.

Ed Rice has a long interconnected history with YU students, who, he finds, can often be eccentric. Ed recollected that at the same time when he went off to serve in the military, there was a problem with overcrowding in the YU dormitory. YU officials approached his mother, and she rented out his room to dormitory officials; YU students actually used his "quarters" as a dormitory.

Since he and his mother lived in the Washington Heights community for such a long time – since the 1950’s – Ed is well acquainted with YU history and with the history of the general community. Ed said that in the 50’s, all the houses on 185th street used to look like his, and they used to extend all the way down to the Harlem River. On Amsterdam Avenue, town houses stood where Belfer Hall, Rubin Hall, and Strenger Hall, now are built. "The Heartbreak Hotel," a hotel featured in a famous song by Elvis Presley, according to Ed, existed two blocks up from Furst Hall. "YU," Ed said, "used to have a policy of incorporation into the community, rather than separation . . . then, it was a local neighborhood, with families and kids; very vibrant, multicultural – Jewish, German, Irish – it was a little UN, very quiet and safe."

Currently, Ed said that he is at work videotaping a documentary about the community. "It is about my mother -- a famous missionary who created a college fund -- and how she lived and interacted with the community." Because of his mother, "a lot of students were able to attend college in New York, and they lived in this house."

This is not the only project that Ed is currently "shooting." "I'm a shootist," he said, "I shoot anything. I use bows, rifles, bullets, rocks, basketballs, watercolors, and anything." He described himself not only a "shootist," but also as, "a pirate, a fine artist, a lettered athlete, a military veteran, a famous musician -- the dean of every audio-engineer in America, a Blackfoot Cherokee Chief, and the CEO and chief engineer of Walking Hawk, Inc." These titles help explain some of the oddities adorning his house, and they help explain who exactly Ed Rice is.

One thing that is certain about Ed Rice is that he is a talented artist. The room in which we sat inside his house was littered with fascinating marvels, but the most wonderful aspect to the room was the art that adorned his walls. There were oil paintings, watercolors, and stain glass windows, with the subjects depicted varying from self-portraits to illustrations of family members. More of Ed's artwork can be seen on the Internet at www.catchafire.com.

The site labels itself, "The Choice for the Progressive Urbanite: The First Black Web Station." Ed’s works at this site include "Unca Shilo," a stark painting of an Indian in deep contemplation, wearing the traditional headdress. In his painting, "In The Moon Glow," a dark-skinned woman, with a single breast exposed, sits shrouded in darkness, as a beacon of light shines onto her face casting brightness onto her countenance and onto the verdant grass and yellow flowers behind her. Other works by Ed at the site include "Mountain Muse #1," "Mountain Muse #2," "Peace On Earth," and "Art. Ti. Facts."

Nevertheless, while Ed Rice's claim of being a "fine artist" has been verified by The Commentator, his assertion that he is "a famous musician" has yet to be confirmed. Ed said that his music company is Walking Hawk, Inc., and Omega I is a subsidiary of Walking Hawk. "We are the next wave. Whatever it is you are dancing to or singing today, we have produced . . . rock and roll, R&B, we either produced it, or worked on it... (In) Any record store, you can still get the music." Ed added, "Ten Wheel Drive is a concept that we helped create, a revolutionary blend in rock and roll."

For his audio-visual achievements, Ed says that he has won an "Emmy" and many "Cleo" awards. Material received from Ed reads as follows. "In 1963, Mr. Rice went to work for Gotham Recording Corporation as Vice-President of Engineering . . . Gotham Recording Corporation at that time was the largest independent production facility on the east coast . . . he was also its chief music mixer and recorded everyone from Count Basie to Little Richard. He holds the distinction of being the only audio engineer to receive an ‘Emmy’ for his work as a technical consultant on a project called ‘Multiplication Rock,’ an educational program still running on ABC-TV. He has won many ‘Cleo’ awards for his work in advertising. The one he is most proud of was for work done on the New York Coalition for ‘Give a Damn.’"

"In 1970, Mr. Rice formed Audio One Recording Corporation . . . Audio One was neatly closed down in 1981 . . . Mr. Rice is at present the President of Walking Hawk Inc., a music and art company involved in the fine arts and audio-visual production arts." The Company Overview says that "The company has produced and aired" a number of different works. They include, "The Adventures of the Black Man in America," which centers around "significant men and women;" and "The Music Tree," a show prepared for radio and television, that "embraces the very heart of American music. The Company Overview also says, that "We are currently in production on the first book of the Bible, ‘Genesis,’ narrated by the ubiquitous ‘Rosco’ Bill Mercer and America’s foremost voice-over stars." Ed told this reporter that he is also working on a "rock opera." He added, "There is a special song on that gnome, Socol."

Ed says that he has proof of his awards. However, Elise Danson, of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, said, "I have no records of either Ed Rice or a show called "Multiplication Rock." An operator at the New York branch of the National Academy, after doing a search for Ed Rice, said, "This is strange; he is not showing up."

As proof to his musical prominence, however, Ed provided a letter from David C. Levy, Executive Dean of Parsons School of Design, inviting Mr. Ed Rice to teach "with us in the New School’s new bachelor degree curriculum in Jazz and Related Contemporary Music." The other proof to his musical talent, of course, is the music that we all can sometimes hear as we pass his house.

Certainly not lacking a quirky side, Ed Rice is a baffling mystery. A talented artist, an eloquent orator, and a musician, what Ed seems to like most is to entertain others. In a series of interviews, he showed sincere interest in the daily lives of YU students whom he knew. However, his love for the "right to bear arms" -- he had a rifle and crossbow on the floor to his left during the interview, his ostentatious decoration of his house, and his willingness to voice his opinion, all are frightful matters to the YU administration.

Is he a "crazed vandal" who should be extracted from the land he inherited from his mother? Is he a "danger" to YU students? The courts will decide.