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Why do so many people want to touch the Wall Street bull's testicles?
By
James Ramsay
and
Emily Nadal
Published Mar 15, 2025
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Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
By
James Ramsay
and
Emily Nadal
Published Mar 15, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
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At first, it was a guerrilla bull.
Arturo Di Modica, the Italian artist who sculpted the 7,000-pound bronze statue, was not commissioned to make it — nor was he authorized to plop it outside the New York Stock Exchange just before Christmas in 1989.
The sculpture was immediately removed by the authorities. But after several days in city custody, the “Charging Bull,” as it’s officially called, was returned to lower Broadway, where it went on to become one of the city’s most recognizable and popular attractions.
“I would say it's right up there with the Statue of Liberty,” former Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe told the New York Times back in 2004.
Even today, with the city’s near endless offering of experiences, secret gardens, aerial trams and Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment, tourists still can’t resist stopping by the Wall Street bull to snap a few pictures and give it's bronze testicles a hearty rub.
Why? Is it because it’s free? Do people feel drawn to high finance or bovine genitalia? Is this a most-photographed-barn situation?
We stopped by recently on a brisk weekday morning to investigate.Two interesting things jumped out: 1. The line to touch the bull’s family jewels was significantly longer than the line to take pictures with its face, and 2. Out of the dozen or so people we spoke with, nobody was from the United States. (Although one French teenager, who said he came to see the statue because he loves “The Wolf of Wall Street,” had recently moved to Utah.)
So, here’s what the rest of the world thinks of our bull statue, and especially its nether regions:
Tagged
new york city
tourism
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James Ramsay
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Emily Nadal
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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