Wall Street, New York City

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In the marvelous town, where each building is more beautiful, than the previous one, Wall street, is mainly the feeling of being in the world's financial center. But in my last visit, the dominating show was more the security apparatus than the site itself.

It's a pity, what the world is becoming.

Anyway, I had the pleasure of seeing my Portuguese bank in a privileged location.

I've been there once more, the nervous apparatus continues, but I couldn't locate my bank. Moved or confusion, I don't know.

(work in progress)
The iconic bull structure at the northern tip of Bowling Green just by Wall Street is one on the most enduring symbols of capitalism ... and, as such, attracts huge crowds of tourists (especially tour groups). The symbolism is straightforward, and refers to the 'bull' (as opposed to a 'bear') market when shares are skyrocketing in value and investors are making a fortune.

I decided to photograph this sculpture from a less traditional angle: a decision partly born out of practicality because the 'front end' was being engaged by a busload of Japanese tourists, but which might also be interpreted as wry social commentary on the ethics of many Wall Street bankers!

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I have been to NYC dozen's of time ..... but I had never been to Wall St and as I was walking up Broadway in lower Manhattan looking for the subway I stumbled upon it ..... now security is tight like it is everywhere in NYC but you can get some great PIX of the NYC stock exchange .... the famous bull is also there but it's on Broadway and you have to line up to get your pix taken with it ..... but really not much to see, just the facade of the NY Stock Exchange.

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The Charging Bull or oftentimes referred to as Wall St Bull or Bowling Green Bull is unofficially, Wall St's mascot (some argue that the bull should be replaced by greedy bankers dressed as Joker). It's a tourist magnet, understandbly, and getting a clear picture of it, without snapping a tourist's head or two is not easy.

The sculpture was crafted by the New York artist Arturo Di Modica who gifted it to the city in Christmas 1989 (Di Modica still owns the sculpture and has offered it for sale, on the condition that it remains at its current location). Although the city government of New York has expressed that the current location is not permanent, public pressure (and more importantly tourist dollars), have kept them from moving the sculpture to other locations.

Looking at it, the sculpture not only reminds me of the word "bullish," which is the "technical" adjective for a stock market on the uptrend, but also of the golden calf in the Bible. Who knows the Charging Bull could, like the golden calf, be worshipped by people so in love with the materialistic world!

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Ah, Wall Street, bastion of the 1%. Yes, THE one percent.

For a time, I also dreamed of working here, but I'm now at peace with that part of my youthful ambition. Still, Wall Street is worth a visit for its history and the best time to do that would be around the close of trading where you see the brokers emerge from the building to go back to their nearby offices.

At the time of my visit in autumn 2009, there were no Occupy Wall St movement yet, but rather some small "gathering" of activists (www.liftamericaup.com) calling for jobs and innovation, topics not unusual to Wall St.

The heart of New York's financial district - Wall Street. We were here on a Sunday, so it was quiet, but during the week, the New York Stock Exchange, Federal Hall (where Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States), Trinity Church, and the Federal Reserve Building are all worthwhile places to visit.

Wall Street was the first permanent home of the New York Stock Exchange. Located in lower Manhattan it runs east from Broadway to South Street through the center of the financial district. The architecturally interesting NYSE building (with its elaborate marble facade) is located at the intersection of Broad and Wall Streets. Many other US stock and other exchanges are headquarted on Wall Street including the NASDAQ.

The Federal Reserve Bank of NY is also located in the financial district. The bank has a gold vault 80 feet beneath the street. This depository is the largest in the world, larger even than Fort Knox.

There are some very nice buildings in the Financial District and Trinity Church can be seen from Wall Street. Make sure to visit the Charging Bull (also known as the Wall Street Bull) in Bowling Green Park near Wall Street. He was created and installed following the 1987 stock market crash as a symbol of the strength and power of the American people.

It is the most impressive building in Wall Street, with columns recreating Greek architecture. Its staircase functions almost as a balcony over the place, with tourists disputing the angles to take their photos and resting a little, with the security strong apparatus "telling" that there must be some safer places in town and inviting to move on.

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center of the boom and bust cycle, the bull and the bear and the greedy companies that made the 2008 financial crisis possible!!!! It is the first permanent home of the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies. Over time, Wall Street became the name of the surrounding geographic neighborhood and also shorthand (or a metonym) for the "influential financial interests" of the American financial industry, which is centered in the New York City area. Anchored by Wall Street, New York City vies with the City of London to be the financial capital of the world.

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One thing I wanted to do on this second trip to New York City was to walk around the Wall Street area, preferably on a week day to see one of the world’s biggest financial districts in action. We left our hotel early on a Friday morning and got to the corner of Broad St. and Wall St. just in time to see thousands of people on their way to work, many wearing a business suit with running shoes, a coffee in one hand and a cell phone in the other. It sure was an interesting experience! We walked around the area for a while and managed to locate some of its most significant buildings, including the New York Stock Exchange, housed in a beautiful neoclassical building, the humongous Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Hall (where George Washington's inauguration as the first President of the United States occurred in 1789), and of course we made the quick detour by Bowling Green to take a picture of the "Charging Bull" sculpture by Arturo Di Modica (and no, we did not molest it as so many people seem to have done judging by how shiny some of the bull's "parts" are!!!).

Another thing I found quite fascinating about NYC's financial district was to see how some historic buildings have managed to survive in the middle of all the modern skyscrapers. Fraunces Tavern, dating back to 1719, is perhaps the best-known example of 18th century architecture in the financial district but there are other examples, such as the shrine dedicated to Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint, which includes a building dating back to 1793 that was once a Christian mission for female Irish immigrants.