The owner of Trellis Restaurant, pressured by the threat of a lawsuit, met with restaurant equipment representatives this week in an effort to find a solution to complaints that his kitchen is expelling unhealthy fumes into Island House.

The threat came in a May 24 letter to the owner, Kumarss "Kaie" Razaghi, from Island House resident Bruce Claugus, a lawyer who lives on the sixth floor.

"Spring is in the air and, unfortunately, so are the fumes vented into the courtyard, entry, and apartments of Island House by your restaurant," Claugus wrote.  "These fumes are so dense and foul that they have adversely affected the health of certain residents."

An earlier letter to the tenants from the Claugus law firm invited residents to participate in a class action suit.  Claugus told The WIRE that about 100 apartments are affected and that at least one resident had required medical treatment because of the fumes.  He gave Razaghi ten days - until the beginning of next week - to provide assurances that the nuisance would be abated.

Razaghi said he met twice this year with Claugus and Doryne Isley, General Manager of Roosevelt Island Housing Management, and told them that he couldn't deal with the problem until the summer, when Trellis cash flow picks up.  "Nobody else has complained to me," he said.  "I had one comment in the four years I've been here:  One gentleman said to me that he smells my muffins when he wakes up.  I don't take that as a complaint.  Cooking odors are cooking odors, no task force has ever gotten in touch with me, nobody else has ever complained."

Isley, however, said she had received many complaints.  "Some individuals say the fumes have affected their health because they're not able to open their windows," she said.  "Some say they're sensitive to smells, and some are asthmatic."

Isley said she'd like to see Trellis install a system similar to the one at the fish market, which vents into an Eastwood courtyard.  No one has complained about odors from that store, she said.

The Trellis' two large exhaust grates are perpendicular to the south side of the apartment building and fairly close to one of the entrances.  Razaghi said one company told him that his kitchen wasn't big enough to accommodate an electronic precipitator, or "smoke-eater" unit.  An alternative is a water-washed hood that eliminates grease and smoke, he said, but not the odor.  The muffin smell would persist, he said.

Claugus contends that the smell is the result of the oxidation of oil from frying, and that health problems stem not just from vapor but from the release of light particulate matter from cooking surfaces.  Kitchen management comes into play, he says, suggesting that better efforts to "keep the kitchen clean" would help.

Razaghi counters that he has received  "no official complaints of any kind" as a result of health, fire or building inspections.

Another alternative would be a chimney.  But, at a possible cost of $65,000, a chimney could be even more expensive than the in-house options, Razaghi said.  The chimney, made of heavy steel, would be 2 feet in diameter and have to go up 20 floors - "not a pretty sight," he said.

Isley said she's waiting for specifications.  Any structure "affixed to the exterior of the building" would have to be approved by the management company and, ultimately, by the owners of Island House, she said.

Razaghi leases the restaurant from the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp.  If the dispute winds up in litigation, he said, "I'm not going to be the only one involved here.  RIOC is going to be involved and management is going to be involved.  And I'm going to countersue these guys, because this system has been here for 20 years.  I didn't make this system."  Given the business climate on the Island, he said, it would be very difficult for him to pay for the improvements.

Claugus, who has lived on the Island for 25 years, said, "My object is not to put the man out of business; my object is to get him to fulfill his obligation to the community."  He said he had finally decided to take a stand against what he portrayed as a deterioration in Island management and business services.