Boldtrini: The World is Yours: Walking to Wall Street

Walking to Wall Street

The Wall Street Stock market, the Charging Bull and the Fearless Girl are three icons of Wall Street. You may also want to include the Subway Sandwich outlet that looks very vintage and you can see where they got their inspiration for the name of their business. You would think that there would be a lot of people in suits walking around busy on the mobile devices. Instead there is good mix of tourists and corporate people sharing the same space. There are alot of shops in this are if you want to get some New York memorabilia. But what do the do actually do on Wall Stree? What is with this bull? and who is the Fearless Girl. Lets find out together.

Fearless Girl Faces Charging Bull Source: TheGuardian.com

Wall Street is one of the most famous streets in the world, and covers approximately 8 blocks long in the lower Manhattan area. It represents as the symbol of U.S. Financial and economic power, because this street is where the Famous New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Major Banks and Brokerage houses are situated. On Wall street is the Federal Hall which at some point in history was the Seat of Power long before the US Government established Washington DC as the Capital. Wall Street is a market for trade, which includes security trading market, Stock trade market, bond market, futures Market, foreign exchange market and the commodities market (The Balance, 2020). The purpose of the market is to create jobs, and raise funds for companies to be more profitable and grow. To learn more click here: https://www.thebalance.com/wall-street-how-it-works-history-and-crashes-3306252

When Wall Street Was a Wall: A 1660 Map of Manhattan - Curbed NY

When Wall Street was a Wall Source: Curbed NY

Why is it called "Wall Street"? 1n 1642 when the first Dutch settlers landed on Manhattan Island, which they called New Amsterdam at that time, had a deep fear of attacks from from the British, Pirates and the Native American Indians. Initially called "de Waal Straat", the Dutch erected a tall wooden wall, nearly 10 feet tall and 2340 feet long, with two gates. One gate was on corner of Wall street and Broadway and the other was on Wall Street and Pearl Street (History, 2020). There were cannons places around the walls for protection. After taking abuse for half a century the wall can it to a state disrepair but it was rebuilt in 1693 for fear of a new treat from French invaders. The wall was finally demolished in 1699. On December 13, 1711, Wall Street became the site of the government sanctioned slave market in New York. In 1788 the City Hall was renamed the Federal Hall and New York became the first capital of the United States of America. Other historical events took place on Wall Street, such as the inauguration of the the First President, George Washington and the drafting of the Bill of Rights by the U.S. Congress. On March 8, 1718 the New York Buttonwood traders, created the New York Stock and Exchange Board, after paying a visit to the Philadelphia Merchants Exchange and used them a model to create there own Exchange Market, which laid the foundation for today's Wall Street. To Learn more click here: https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/wall-street-timeline

Artiste Arturo Di Modica created the now iconic "Charging Bull" in the aftermath of the 1987 Stock Market Crash and funding the project all by himself. the 7,100 pound Charging Bull is supposed to represent the strength, courage and can-do spirit of the American people, particularly the citizens of New York (Investopedia, 2020). Wall Street uses the Bull as a symbol of their aggressive and bullish market optimism when coming to doing business. To learn more click here: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/charging-bull.asp

In march 2017, Artiste Kristen Visbal created and installed the controversial "Fearless Girl" statue after it was commissioned by the State Street Global Advisors (SSGA). The Girl was supposed to symbolize women empowerment and leadership as it was facing the Charging Bull. It was a way for the SSGA to put pressure on companies in the area to add more women to their company and board of directors (The Guardian, 2019). I say controversial because the powers that be, made complaints that the petite statue was taking away all of the attention from the Bull and they wanted it relocated (CNBC, 2018). The statue now faces the New York Stock Exchange. Click learn more click here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/28/new-york-fearless-girl-charging-bull-wall-street.

So there you have it, you learn something new everyday. This is a great spot to visit as it is between the Twin Towers Memorial and Battery Park where you can get the Ferry to go to Liberty Island, that is if you don't mind walking. So put on a comfortable pair of shoes and take out your camera because their is a lot to see and do when Walking to Wall Street.

Rating: 7/10