Charging Bull
New York
Charging Bull is the bronze bull at the start of Broadway, next to the Bowling Green garden. It arrived by night as a surprise gift and became one of the most photographed statues in New York.
A gift that arrived by night
The sculptor Arturo Di Modica came to New York in 1970 and worked in his studio in SoHo. In December 1989 he brought the bull in front of the Stock Exchange, at night, as a surprise Christmas gift. People loved it at once, and the city moved it here, to the start of Broadway.
What to see from outside
The bull lowers its head and twists its body, as if it were about to spring forward. Its tail curls like a whip. Its gaze points straight up Broadway, the avenue that runs north.
Behind it is Bowling Green, an oval garden enclosed by an iron railing from 1771.
The oldest park in the city
In 1733 the city council made it New York's first official park. Three neighbors rented it and decorated it with a lawn, trees and a wooden fence. In exchange they paid a single peppercorn a year.
The city has celebrated the park's birthday on March 12 several times, as if for a very old grandparent.
