New York Neighbor Sues Chef over Eatery’s Trash

A neighbor says star chef and New York City restaurateur David Bouley’s trash is really bugging him.

W. Robert Curtis says in a lawsuit that a Bouley eatery’s food storage and garbage are subjecting the building next door to insects, odors and “seeping black ooze” coming through a basement floor. Bouley’s representatives didn’t immediately respond Wednesday.

Curtis owns a building in Manhattan’s trendy TriBeCa neighborhood. It’s next to one of Bouley’s restaurants, Bouley Studio.

Curtis says he’s lost at least $120,000 in rent because of the restaurant’s waste. He’s seeking at least $480,000 in damages in the suit, filed last week.

Bouley became a big name in New York’s culinary scene in the 1990s. The James Beard Foundation named him the nation’s outstanding chef in 2000.