New York City is an awesome place for a perfumista to live. It can’t compare to France, the perfume capital of the world, but there are perfume shops all over town, and a great variety of choices from the giant department stores to the most cramped little kiosk at the tip of the boroughs, stocked with everything under the sun. You can pretty much find anything here to smell: mainstream commercial fragrances, niche / indie brands, vintage and discontinued perfumes, Arabian oils and incense from street vendors.

— Sali Oguri of the Pink Manhattan blog, and creator of the Pink Manhattan and Persephone fragrances, in her debut column as the NY Fragrance Examiner for examiner.com. Read more at A Perfumista's New York Story.

A maple syrup smell that has mysteriously wafted through New York City numerous times over the years has been traced to a New Jersey facility that processes fenugreek seeds for flavorings.

The sweet odor has drifted through swaths of the city off and on since 2005, perplexing New Yorkers and city officials.

— From Blame Jersey! NY maple mystery solved, with thanks to Joe for the link! For background, see here.

Remember that syrup-like smell of unknown origin that puzzled New Yorkers back in 2005 and then again later the same year? It's back:

The city’s 311 information line was flooded with callers reporting the smell of maple syrup, or something like it, wafting across several neighborhoods, a spokesman for the Office of Emergency Management said.

Read more in Mysterious Sweet Smell From 2005 Returns to Manhattan at The New York Times. Thanks to Joe for the link!