Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.) suggested Monday that the statue of a little girl located on Wall Street should ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
Maloney, whose district is located in New York City, held a press conference at New York City Hall to rally support for making the "Fearless Girl" statue, a bronze, ponytailed girl that stares down Wall Street's "Charging Bull," a permanent fixture. She said the statue had been accepted into the Department of Transportation arts program, allowing it to remain for another year through February 2018.
"We have also requested from the iconic New York Stock Exchange to have the Fearless Girl ring the bell at an appropriate time," Maloney told reporters.
Statues are generally incapable of motion, however, as CNN recently learned. Maloney later told the New York Daily News that a little girl could get dressed as the statue and ring the bell in its stead.
Fearless Girl is a powerful symbol to women young and old. Empowering women shouldn't be temporary - she must be a permanent piece of NYC pic.twitter.com/wsZLYQr3Ez
— NYC Public Advocate (@NYCPA) March 27, 2017
The statue was installed on the eve of International Women's Day, March 8, and was originally supposed to be there until April 2. But Maloney and others have called for the statue to be permanent, arguing it empowers women.
"In her short time here, the Fearless Girl has fueled powerful conversations about women in leadership and inspired so many," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D.) said in a statement. "Now, she'll be asserting herself and affirming her strength even after her temporary permit expires–a fitting path for a girl who refuses to quit."
A petition from Change.org has so far gained over 28,000 signatures to make the statue permanent, short of its 35,000-signature goal.
Boston-based State Street Global Advisors, a financial firm, put up the statue to advocate for more women getting spots on corporate boards of the roughly 3,500 companies that benefit from its clients' investments.
Some do not want the statue to remain in place, however.
Arturo Di Modica, sculptor of Wall Street's "Charging Bull," told the Associated Press installing the statue was "an advertising trick" by State Street Global Advisors and its New York advertising firm, McCann.
Fearless Girl standing TALL and STRONG. #Fearlessgirl #chargingbull #nyc #tourist #WallStreet #iamher pic.twitter.com/bbrPszwTHw
— Ngoc Ma (@singlelayergake) March 17, 2017
RT: @NBCPhiladelphia "Fearless Girl" staue becomes viral sensation: https://t.co/8D6oLfPNNj
— MLK Day of Service (@mlkdayofservice) March 11, 2017