The investment management firm claims that between the placement of the statue and late September, more than 300 companies have added a female director.
However, the firm and its statue have been a the center of a few controversies.
NPR’s Camila Domonoske reported in October 2017 that a Department of Labor investigation found the statue’s State Street sponsors had underpaid female and black executives.
In addition, the artist behind the Charging Bull, Arturo Di Modica, has called the Fearless Girl an “advertising trick” that makes the subject of his own sculpture into a villain. As a result, a different artist who supports Di Modica created a third sculpture of a dog peeing on the bronze girl’s leg, which made its brief cameo in this drama in May 2017, as reported by NPR’s Colin Dwyer.
The relocation of Kristen Visbal’s Fearless Girl began late Tuesday night but was announced back in April in a statement by State Street and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“Our hope is that by moving her closer to the NYSE she will encourage more companies to take action and, more broadly, that she will continue to inspire people from all walks of life on the issue of gender diversity,” State Street Global Advisors President and CEO Cyrus Taraporevala said.
However, local television station WABC reported conversations among city officials regarding both the bull and girl statues have focused on the traffic hazard they present. They were both located on the narrow end of Bowling Green Park, which also acts as a median on busy Broadway — where crowds gathered around the statues often spilled over.
“This move to a new location will ensure that her message and impact will continue to be heard, as well as improve access for visitors,” De Blasio said in April’s statement.
The mayor’s spokesman Eric Phillips also tweeted around that time that the Charging Bull statue “will almost certainly be moved” as well.