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A statue of a young girl that has been staring down New York City’s iconic Wall Street bull sculpture since the eve of International Women’s Day is not going anywhere �— at least for another year.

The four-foot “Fearless Girl” statue was installed in front of the bronze “Charging Bull” in time for International Women’s Day earlier this month as a way of calling attention to the gender pay gap and lack of gender diversity on corporate boards in the financial sector, the Wall-Street firm that installed the popular statue has said.

Now the statue, which depicts a pony-tailed girl in a dress defiantly looking up at the bull, will remain at her post until February 2018, New York politicians announced at a press conference on Monday. It was set to be removed on April 2.

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A camera man films a statue of a girl facing the Wall St. Bull, as part of a campaign by U.S. fund manager State Street to push companies to put women on their boards, in the financial district in New York, on March 7. Brendan McDermid / Reuters

“Where she is standing now, the ‘Fearless Girl’ is standing facing the bronze statue of the raging Wall Street Charging Bull, which was created by Arturo Di Modica to encourage everyone to realize America's power,” New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney said Monday. “Well, the ‘Fearless Girl’ inspires all of us to realize the power we have in ourselves, the power women and girls have everywhere.”

Related: New York Politicians Call for Permanent Installation of ‘Fearless Girl’ Statue

Maloney also said the statue was “created to inspire and personify the resilience of women everywhere” and thanked artist Kristen Visbal and State Street Global Advisors, the firm that installed the statue in Lower Manhattan.

State Street said on its website after the statue was installed that despite certain gains for women on corporate boards, one out of every four companies that make up the Russell 3000 Index still have no female representation on their boards.

The decision to keep the statue comes after more than 50 New York politicians signed a letter to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dated March 15 to make the installation permanent.

De Blasio had announced in a statement on Sunday that the statue would not be taken down in April.

"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," he said in the statement to NBC New York.

Maloney said on Monday that the statue had been officially accepted into the Department of Transportation’s art program, which meant the statue would stay until February of next year.