Winter Trip to New York: Why Is the Wall Street Bull Not on Wall Street?
During my trip to New York on January 19, 2025, I saw the long-famous Wall Street Bull with a tour guide. Upon seeing it, I became curious: Why is the Wall Street Bull not actually on Wall Street? To answer this question, I consulted my tour guide and looked up relevant information. Only then did I understand the twists and turns of the story.
The Wall Street Bull is an iconic symbol of Wall Street in the United States—a bronze bull sculpture standing 3.4 meters tall, 4.8 meters long, and weighing 3.2 tons. However, the bull is not on Wall Street but at the northern end of Bowling Green Park, two blocks from the New York Stock Exchange, facing Broadway. The place where the bull now resides has a rather circuitous story.
The Wall Street Bull was not designed or built by the New York Stock Exchange. Its creator was Arturo Di Modica, an Italian-American sculptor. Born in Sicily, Italy, Di Modica moved to New York in the 1970s, already a well-known sculptor in Italy. On October 19, 1987, the U.S. experienced the "Black Monday" stock market crash, plunging the market into a winter. Di Modica felt he needed to create a sculpture to restore public confidence. Considering the stock market's longing for a bull market—especially since the bull is seen as a symbol of strength and courage—he decided to make a bronze bull sculpture as the perfect "antidote" to the 1987 crash, and also to make a name for himself.
Over the next two years, Di Modica spent $360,000 without the knowledge of New York City authorities, designing the now-world-famous Wall Street Bull in his studio, then having it cast at a foundry. By the end of 1989, the bronze bull, weighing 3.2 tons, 4.9 meters long, and 3.4 meters tall, was finally completed.
But where to place it? Di Modica believed that only by installing it in front of the New York Stock Exchange could it inspire not just New York but the whole world. To attract more attention, he decided to put the bull at the NYSE entrance without permission.
In the early morning of December 15, 1989, Di Modica and a few friends trucked the bull to the New York Stock Exchange, only to find that a large Christmas tree placed by the exchange blocked the way. Thinking quickly, he decided to place the bull under the Christmas tree as a "Christmas gift" to New York City and the world.
When morning came, the bull sculpture suddenly appearing at the NYSE entrance became global news, and Di Modica gained fame from this "performance art."
The bull was intended to symbolize market prosperity, but the New York Stock Exchange did not accept this uninvited gift; instead, they called the police. Later that day, the bull was removed and impounded.
Although the bull only stayed briefly in front of the NYSE, locals grew fond of it, and people demanded its return. With help from the New York mayor, the city park commissioner, and the Bowling Green Park Association, the bull found a permanent home at the northern end of Bowling Green Park, two blocks from the NYSE, facing Broadway. On December 21, 1989, the bull was officially installed in Bowling Green Park.
The bull sculpture remains in Bowling Green Park to this day, welcoming millions of visitors from around the world every year.
The bull sculpture remains in Bowling Green Park to this day, welcoming millions of visitors from around the world every year.
The story should have ended there, but later a "Fearless Girl" statue emerged, adding a new twist.
The "Fearless Girl" statue was installed in Bowling Green Park on March 7, 2017. Created by Kristen Visbal, it is a bronze sculpture commissioned by State Street Global Advisors and produced by McCann New York. The work depicts a Latina girl staring down the famous Wall Street Bull sculpture. The statue is 50 inches (130 cm) tall and weighs 250 pounds (110 kg). It faces the larger and heavier bronze bull.
This angered the bull's creator, Arturo Di Modica. He accused the "Fearless Girl" of infringing on his copyright, and his lawyer argued that the new statue altered the original meaning of the Wall Street Bull. Di Modica stated that the bull originally symbolized "freedom, world peace, strength, and love." After the 1987 crash, when the stock market was bleak, Di Modica wanted to place the bull as a gift outside the NYSE, symbolizing strength and hope for the U.S. to recover from the economic downturn. But he claimed that with the girl statue, "the bull no longer carries a positive, optimistic message. Instead, it becomes a negative force and a threat." He told reporters, "The girl statue is saying, 'I'm here, what do you want to do?' " He added, "Clearly, the decision to place 'Fearless Girl' was deliberate, using and occupying the bull."
Di Modica and his lawyer demanded that New York City remove the "Fearless Girl" statue, which had been permitted to stay until March 2018, and argued that the girl should be placed elsewhere so it no longer relied on the bull.
Finally, after much coordination, on December 10, 2018—International Human Rights Day—the Fearless Girl was relocated to a permanent spot directly in front of the New York Stock Exchange.
