Keep an eye out for the bronze sycamore root sculpture at the top of the street on Broadway - a moving 9/11 memorial that is often overlooked in favour of that other famous Wall Street bronze, the Charging Bull.
Wall Street is more than just a street: it's become shorthand for the world of US finance at large, and an iconic location for dramatic market booms and busts since it rose to importance in the 19th century. It's a symbol for American success and excess, glory and greed, where millions are traded daily and repercussions are felt around the world.
Immortalised in the 1987 film Wall Street with villainous antihero Gordon Gekko - who famously declared 'Greed is good' - the economic hub has seen no drop in cultural prominence. From the 2008 crash to Scorsese's recent Wolf of Wall Street, it's a place that fascinates the public imagination.
The action all takes place in architecture of New York's 'Gilded Age,' neoclassical and grand, with a sprinkling of art nouveau; the Federal Reserve bank is housed in a building that imitates the Renaissance palaces of Florence.
Today, the street is swarming with as many tourists as stockbrokers: there is even a historic Scoundrels of Wall Street Tour, shedding light on the eminent tradition of swindlers and frauds such as Bernie Madoff. The Federal Reserve building added a dedicated visitor centre in the late nineties. One visitor to the New York Stock Exchange wrote in 1997 that 'staring down at the trading floor was as exciting as going to the Statue of Liberty.' You might not agree with this assessment, but it's worth stopping by the street to experience the atmosphere.
Please note that tour guides are not allowed to guide inside the Statue of Liberty Museum and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Your guide will give you full information on each island and then silently accompany you through the museums. He/she will be able to answer questions you may have but not actually “guide” you through the museums.
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