Construction and installation The bull was cast by the Bedi-Makky Art Foundry in
Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Di Modica spent $360,000 to create, cast, and install the sculpture following the
1987 stock market crash. Di Modica later recounted to art writer
Anthony Haden-Guest, "My point was to show people that if you want to do something in a moment things are very bad, you can do it. You can do it by yourself. My point was that you must be strong."
Ownership The sculpture has a temporary permit allowing it to stand on city property since the city does not own the sculpture, but the temporary permission has lasted since 1989, when city officials said the new location would not be permanent. A writer in the
New York Daily News wrote in 1998 that the statue's placement was "beginning to look a mite permanent." In 2004, Di Modica announced that
Charging Bull was for sale, on condition the buyer did not move it from its location. Joe Lewis, the British billionaire and ex-owner of Christies, purchased the sculpture. Di Modica continued to own the
artistic copyright to the statue, Three years later, Di Modica sued
Random House for using a photo of the bull on the cover of a book discussing the collapse of financial services firm
Lehman Brothers.
Evolution into tourist attraction As soon as the sculpture was set up at Bowling Green, it became "an instant hit." 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." A 2004 article in
The New York Times said, "Passers-by have rubbed—to a bright gleam—its nose, horns and a part of its anatomy that, as Mr. Benepe put it gingerly, 'separates the bull from the steer.'" It was commissioned to advertise for an
index fund that comprises gender-diverse companies that have a relatively high percentage of women among their senior leadership and installed in anticipation of
International Women's Day the following day. It depicts a girl high, promoting female empowerment. After Di Modica filed complaints about
Fearless Girl, it was removed in November 2018 and relocated to outside the New York Stock Exchange. A plaque with footprints was placed on the original site of
Fearless Girl. In November 2019, city officials announced that they wished to move
Charging Bull to a plaza outside the New York Stock Exchange due to safety concerns at Bowling Green. Officials stated that because
Charging Bull is located on a traffic median with large crowds, it was vulnerable to terrorist attacks, citing examples such as the
2017 truck attack on the nearby
West Side Highway. Local community group Downtown Alliance supported the relocation, but Di Modica opposed it. The
New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) had filed an application with the
New York City Public Design Commission (PDC) to relocate
Charging Bull, but subsequently withdrew the application, which a city spokesperson said was due to uncertainty over the new location. Residents of
Manhattan Community District 1, which includes the Financial District, expressed opposition to the relocation in a meeting with city officials in May 2020. At the time, updated plans called for
Charging Bull to be located at the corner of
Broad Street and Wall Street, north of
Fearless Girl. The PDC declined to endorse relocation in June 2020. On October 18, 2021,
a statue of
Harambe, a gorilla, was placed facing the statue in a similar manner to
Fearless Girl and thousands of bananas were put under the bull's feet. The act was carried out by organizers promoting Sapien.Network, an in-development social media network. In fall 2021, artist
Nelson Saiers placed a series of sculptures next to the
Bull to comment on the
Federal Reserve's monetary policy and inflation. The first, "Cheap Money is Out of Order," featured a gumball machine filled with $10 bills offered for 25 cents with an "Out of Order!" sign taped to its face. ==Replicas==