NEW YORK, Mar 5, 2011 /– Is it Uptown? No — too quirky to be Uptown. So it must be Downtown? No again — though it has an unmistakable hipster vibe. Sandwiched between the two, it’s not Midtown, either.
Formerly a grungy, nameless no-man’s land that flanks Koreatown to the north and the Flatiron District to the south, Madison Square Park and environs have recently emerged as a chic, trendy, young enclave — worthy of a Bond No. 9 eau de parfum. Here, tony new restaurants, penthouse bars, boutiques, and boutique hotels mingle with the Asian bodywork salons and countless costume jewelry wholesalers and the manicure joints that dot the neighborhood.
The park known as Madison Square (named for the president and principal author of the U.S. Constitution) is at the junction where Fifth Avenue and Broadway momentarily converge as they head downtown, only to be separated by the prow of the Flatiron Building on 23rd Street.
In the mid-19th century, as the opulent Gilded Age got under way, the surrounding streets grew lush and residential. Lavish Beaux Arts- and Rococo-style grand hotels and retail emporiums arose. This was Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Wharton territory. Herman Melville wrote Billy Budd on East 26th Street. The grid of streets around Madison Square Park became Manhattan’s hotspot. Fast-forward to 2011, and now again, this is the place to be.
In 2004, the park and environs reawakened. That was the year when that ivy-covered gourmet snack bar, Shake Shack, opened amid the park’s greenery, attracting huge crowds. Other restaurants followed, the most recent of them being the Italian mega-food hall Eataly, situated directly opposite the street.
And nearby: Nuela (a haute Nuevo Latino cevicheria), and the John Dory Oyster Bar. What’s more, elegant hotels have re-emerged — the ultra-trendy Ace Hotel, the Eventi, the NoMad, the MAve, the Carlton, and the Roger Williams. So once again, it’s a chic locale.
Naturally, we at Bond No. 9 had to give this vivacious neighborhood its own vivacious eau de parfum. So for March 15 we are delighted to introduce Bond No. 9 Madison Square Park, an arresting, super-bright melange of romantic florals and crisp greens. Starting with springtime topnotes–intoxicating, musk-like grape hyacinth paired with tangy huckleberry and delicately spicy prairie dropseed grass–the scent soon segues into a heart of voluptuous red leaf rose, traveling with its sidekick, Red Hunter tulip. And for its finale, these lush and vibrant florals at last give way to calmer, deeper, darker teakwood and vetiver root.
The Madison Square Park nonstop-neon pink and green bottle, Bond No. 9’s most otherworldly yet, mirrors the scent’s floral-and-green motif. Likewise, the neighborhood’s new fashion smarts are evident both in the bottle’s almost-fuchsia Schiaparelli Shocking-esque exterior and in the removable color-contrasting grass-green Deco-Moderne rose-blossom bracelet that’s wound around the cap. Wear its double rows of beads on your wrist, or detach the vintage-style rose centerpiece, to use as a brooch. Ah, perfume and jewelry! We love that combination.
Appearing on-counter in March 2011, Bond No. 9 Madison Square Park will be sold at our four New York stores, Saks Fifth Avenue, and at bondno9.com.
Launch date: March 15th, 2011
Suggested Retail Price: 3.4 ounces, $240; 1.7 ounces, $170; silver pocket spray, $90.
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