Update: On March 27th Mayor de Blasio announced that the "Fearless Girl" will remain in place until early 2018. This is entirely due to the many people from New York and beyond who wrote letters, signed petitions, and encouraged their elected officials to ask for the statue to remain.
March 21, 2017
On March 15th thirteen prominent women leaders in New York City urbanism and public space sent a letter to Mayor de Blasio asking him to let the "Fearless Girl" statue continue to call Bowling Green home for longer than the month currently authorized. The signers are aware that the City is exploring the possibility of keeping her for longer, after hearing from many New Yorkers who want to see her stay, and they applaud the Mayor’s receptivity.
Reach the full letter, below.
March 15, 2017
Hon. Bill de Blasio Mayor City of New York City Hall, 1st Floor New York, NY 10007
Dear Mayor de Blasio,
It is hard to find a statue of a woman in New York City. Just ask Troop 3484 of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York who, after learning that there were no statues of real women in Central Park decided to do something about the underrepresentation. They pledged to donate a portion of their Girl Scout cookie proceeds this year to the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Statue Fund, an initiative to place statues of the two famous women’s rights activists in Central Park.
Last week, however, that search got a little bit easier. Greeting all of us in Lower Manhattan was a petite bronze statue of a young girl, adorned in high-top sneakers and a ponytail, planted squarely across from the iconic Charging Bull sculpture in Bowling Green Park. She stands fearless and confident, hopeful and empowered. “This is a piece of work,” said the artist Kristen Visbal, “all women of any age, shape, color, or creed can relate to.”
By now, you’ve heard of her, The Fearless Girl.
Fearless Girl has been photographed, tweeted, and shared thousands of times in the last week. Resident New Yorkers and tourists alike have flocked to Bowling Green to see the symbolic statue in person. In fact, some of us, leaders and directors of various nonprofits and businesses in New York, made last minute changes to our schedules to meet up and take a picture with her.
Fearless Girl represents not only the importance of sculpture in the urban environment but the power of our public spaces, where all kinds of people gather over shared interests and common experiences. Fearless Girl has resonated with thousands of women, just like us. As women in leadership roles in New York City, we are all too familiar with underrepresentation and the challenges that women continue to face in society. Know that each one of us has been, and continues to be that girl – emboldened, resilient, courageous and willing to lead in the face of adversity.
We commend your Administration for supporting women in leadership roles in government and in the workplace. Your support bolsters what we do and we thank you for your leadership. Allowing Fearless Girl, this important symbol of equality and strength, to appear on International Women’s Day was both moving and inspiring to all of us and it is equally thrilling to see how she has been embraced by people of all races, ages and gender.
We fully respect the City’s permitting and review process but still believe that this timeless, empowering statue belongs in our public realm for longer than its permitted week or requested month. We request that that the City will consider granting a longer ‘temporary’ status to Fearless Girl, as we find her no less symbolic than the Bull. We want generations of New Yorkers and visitors to feel we what we feel when we look at her – proud to have made a difference, proud to be a New Yorker.
Mr. Mayor, we ask you today to please make Fearless Girl a longer-standing fixture of this forward-thinking, amazing city we call home.
Sincerely,
Lynn B. Kelly Executive Director New Yorkers for Parks
Betty Chen Principal BYC Projects and Former NYC Planning Commissioner
Susan Chin Executive Director Design Trust for Public Space
Susan M. Donoghue President Prospect Park Alliance
Amy L. Freitag Executive Director J.M. Kaplan Fund
Elizabeth Goldstein President The Municipal Art Society of New York
Kamillah M. Hanks President & CEO Historic Tappen Park Community Partnership
Vivian Liao Korich Principal Totem
Holly Leicht Former Executive Director New Yorkers for Parks
Regina Myer President Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
Angela Sung Pinsky Executive Director Association for a Better New York
Kathy Shea Executive Director American Society of Landscape Architects, New York
Claire Weisz Principal W X Y architecture + urban design
cc: Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl, DCLA
Commissioner Mitchell Silver, DPR
Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, DOT
Mr. Justin Garrett Moore, PDC