HIGH LINE

Since when do new neighborhoods arise in New York? Hardly ever. After all, this city is already jam-packed with just about every kind of community imaginable. So when a new part of town arrives, you can be sure we're in for something completely different. An improbable aerial walkway lined with concrete planks and railroad tracks, landscaped with meadows, wetlands, and wildflowers, the High Line hovers 30 feet above street level as it meanders along its route from the Meatpacking District to the former 34th Street rail yards--- sometimes bridging its way through buildings along the way. Lately too it’s begun serving a daily parade of New Yorkers and visitors wanting both a respite from and a fresh take on our non-stop kaleidoscopic city.

We at Bond No. 9, purveyors of New York neighborhood fragrances, have long been enamored of the High Line and its perfume possibilities. A scent that conveys a whiff of urban wildflowers and a hint of industrial grit, with bits of Tenth Avenue energy and Chelsea gallery style added to the mix - this intrigued us.

The result is an androgynous floral-marine bouquet, contrasting the hardy flowers and greens that grow along the High Line's route with intriguing notes from far away. The scent starts off with a prairie grazing weed - purple love grass - mixed with citrusy bergamot and zesty Indian rhubarb. The perfume's floral heart is red-leaf rose, Lady Jane tulips and grape hyacinth. Its lingering base notes combine bur oak - from the sheltering tree that thrives here - with imported sea moss, to evoke the Hudson River's proximity, along with musk and teakwood, to remind us that Bond No. 9 High Line is a metro-perfume.