Top cop Bill Bratton freed the Wall Street Bull from its corral Tuesday after two-and-a-half years of captivity.
Uniformed and plainclothes cops removed about 20 barricades surrounding the iconic “Charging Bull” sculpture in Bowling Green.
“It means a lot,” said Arthur Piccolo, chairman of the Bowling Green Alliance. “The bull is free. The barricades have been up for 920 days. It’s the way it should be, open to the public.”
Piccolo said the police told him they would be taken down for good.
Bratton agreed to liberate the bull during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration where he raised the Irish flag in Bowling Green.
“The bull is a treasure,” said Downtown Alliance president Jessica Lappin. “It will be much easier to take photos and enjoy the bull.”
The NYPD penned in the 3-and-a-half ton bronze sculpture in September of 2011, concerned about its safety during the Occupy Wall Street protests.
During one demonstration, Occupiers chanted “Take the bull!”
“Security around the bull’s statue perimeter is assessed on a day to day basis,” an NYPD spokesman said. “Access to the bull statue will remain, and the area will continue to be monitored.”
A police source said they did a security assessment and they don’t need barricades around the bull anymore. If there is a threat in the future, the barricades could come back.