Charging Bull | Arturo Di Modica

The 7,000-pound bull arrived on Wall Street uninvited during Christmastime in 1989, and he still hasn’t left town.

Though Charging Bull was definitely a bit out of place in his initial spot in front of the New York Stock Exchange, people were quickly won over by the sleek, aggressive-looking, oversized animal. And so the 16-foot-long bronze sculpture, a gift from artist Arturo Di Modica, was soon moved to a “temporary” spot at the north end of Bowling Green, where he still stands, with his huge head lowered, horns out, nostrils flared -- ready to charge.

Di Modica said he created the gleaming, muscular sculpture after the 1987 stock market crash as a symbol of the "strength, power and hope of the American people for the future." Not to mention the image of a "bull" market and all it implies for investors with aggressive financial optimism and prosperity. It cost the artist more than $300,000 to create, cast and install his beast. To recoup his expenses, he planned to sell other versions of the bull to cities around the world, and he has made some progress. In 2010, China was due to get its own reddish-colored charging bull in Shanghai’s financial square on the Bund.

In New York, the bull is popular with tourists, with thousands visiting every day from the U.S. and around the world. Charging Bull stands at street level on cobblestones at the northern end of the park. You can walk all the way around the bull, from his head to his hard, whip-like tail. Children climb on him. People get their pictures taken with him. They pat him... all over his body. Yes, a favorite photo op is smack dab between the beast's gargantuan butt cheeks.

For the city’s financial district, Charging Bull has indeed become a symbol of optimism in the financial market. Though the bull’s installation is still officially "temporary," despite how long it’s been on display, we trust the optimism it generates will be everlasting.

By Kathie