Charging Bull

Overview

Charging Bull, sometimes referred to as the Bull of Wall Street or the Bowling Green Bull, is a bronze sculpture that stands on Broadway just north of Bowling Green in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The 7,100-pound (3,200 kg) bronze sculpture, standing 11 feet (3.4 m) tall and measuring 16 feet (4.9 m) long, depicts a bull, the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity. Charging Bull is a popular tourist destination that draws thousands of people a day, symbolizing Wall Street and the Financial District.

The sculpture was created by Sicilian artist Arturo Di Modica in the wake of the 1987 Black Monday stock market crash. On December 14, 1989, Di Modica arrived on Wall Street with Charging Bull on the back of a truck and illegally dropped the sculpture outside of the New York Stock Exchange. After being removed by the New York City Police Department later that day, Charging Bull was installed at Bowling Green a week later. The sculpture is located in a traffic median of Broadway just north of Bowling Green, adjacent to 26 Broadway to the east and 25 Broadway to the west. It depicts a bull, the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge. The sculpture is both a popular tourist destination, which draws thousands of people a day, as well as a symbol of Wall Street and the Financial District, being described as "one of the most iconic images of New York" and a "Wall Street icon".

Evolution into tourist attraction

As soon as the sculpture was set up at Bowling Green, it became an instant hit. One of the city's most photographed artworks, it has become a tourist destination in the Financial District. "Its popularity is beyond doubt", an article in The New York Times said of the artwork. "Visitors constantly pose for pictures around it." Henry J. Stern, the city parks commissioner when the statue first appeared in the Financial District, said in 1993: "People are crazy about the bull. It captured their imagination." Adrian Benepe, a later parks commissioner, said in 2004, "It's become one of the most visited Children enjoy climbing on the bull, which sits "famously" at street level on the cobblestones at the far northern tip of Bowling Green.

In addition to having their pictures taken at the front end of the bull, many tourists pose at the back of the bull, near the large testicles "for snapshots under an unmistakable symbol of its virility". According to a 2002 article in The Washington Post, "People on The Street say you've got to rub the nose, horns and testicles of the bull for good luck.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Bowling Green (New York City)", and "Charging Bull" which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0