Another year for ‘Fearless Girl’ statue on Wall Street isn’t enough for elected officials

Originally posted at 12:20 p.m.

The drumbeat for making the statue of Fearless Girl a permanent fixture in Lower Manhattan continues.

Over the weekend, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the bronze statue of the little girl staring down the Wall Street bull, which had been installed to celebrate International Women’s Day, will remain through February2018.

But that hasn’t satisfied several female elected officials, who have continued to insist the empowering symbol should remain forever.

On Monday morning, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney,Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and city Public Advocate Letitia James, among others, gathered at City Hall to honor Kristen Visbal, the Delaware artist who created Fearless Girl. They also continued their campaign to make permanent the statue that had only received a weeklong permit when it was went up in early March.

On Monday afternoon, Gale Brewer joined de Blasio at the statue for some brief remarks about having the statue for another year.

“I have been profoundly struck by what this statue means to girls and women,” the mayor said at the gathering. He elaborated on how Fearless Girl “spoke to the moment and history,” of women empowering themselves and their daughters at a time when women’s rights feel threatened.

For now, New York’s newest icon of strength will remain at least another year, in a decision announced over the weekend. The 50-inch statue stands a few feet away from Wall Street bull statue, the 3-ton piece that was installed 29 years ago

The creator of Charging Bull, Arturo Di Modica, is one of the few toexpress displeasure with the 4-foot Fearless Girl. He said the new statue, commissioned by an asset management company in an effort to address the need for more women on corporateboards, is an “advertising trick.”

But the public advocate disagreed, calling the statue “a symbol to women youngand old.”

“However, the importance of empowering women is not temporary, and Fearless Girl must become a permanent fixture in our city as a reminder to all women that no dream is too big and no ceilingis too high,” James said.