Mr. Di Modica and his lawyers did not disagree with that idea at a news conference — “None of us here are in any way not proponents of gender equality,” said one of Mr. Di Modica’s lawyers, Norman Siegel, a former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. They demanded that “Fearless Girl” be moved somewhere else.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who spoke out in support of “Fearless Girl” last month, reiterated its importance on Twitter on Wednesday: “Men who don’t like women taking up space are exactly why we need the Fearless Girl.”

“Fearless Girl” was seen by many as a unifying symbol during International Women’s Day last month. Chelsea Clinton and the actress Jessica Chastain posted on Twitter expressing support for the statue.

But on Wednesday, Mr. Siegel said, “Principle trumps popularity, and there are principles here.”

For his part, Mr. Di Modica became emotional, explaining later that when he had heard about “Fearless Girl,” his reaction was to go to the site in Lower Manhattan and try to do something to end the face-off between the two statues. “I said, ‘Now I’m going to turn around the bull myself,’” he recalled.