Charging Bull is a popular tourist destination that draws thousands of people a day, symbolizing Wall Street and the Financial District.

Late in the evening of Thursday, December 14, 1989, Di Modica arrived on Wall Street with Charging Bull on the back of a truck and illegally dropped the sculpture outside of the New York Stock Exchange Building.

Charging Bull has been a subject of criticism from an anti-capitalist perspective, such as in the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, and has also been compared to the biblical golden calf worshiped by the Israelites shortly after their Exodus from Egypt.

[7] In Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide, Dianne Durante describes the sculpture: The Bull's head is lowered, its nostrils flare, and its wickedly long, sharp horns are ready to gore; it's an angry, dangerous beast.

The work was designed and placed so that viewers could walk around it, which also suggests the creature's own movement is unrestricted — a point reinforced by the twisting posture of the bull's body, according to Durante.

[9] Di Modica later recounted to art writer Anthony Haden-Guest, "My point was to show people that if you want to do something in a moment things are very bad, you can do it.

[2] The ensuing public outcry led the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to reinstall it two blocks south of the Exchange, in Bowling Green, facing up Broadway just north of Whitehall Street.

[14][15] Three years later, Di Modica sued Random House for using a photo of the bull on the cover of a book discussing the collapse of financial services firm Lehman Brothers.

"[17] According to a 2002 article in The Washington Post, "People on The Street say you've got to rub the nose, horns and testicles of the bull for good luck, tour guide Wayne McLeod would tell the group on the Baltimore bus, who would giddily oblige.

"[18] A 2004 article in The New York Times said, "Passers-by have rubbed—to a bright gleam—its nose, horns and a part of its anatomy that, as Mr. Benepe put it gingerly, 'separates the bull from the steer.

[21] In November 2019, city officials announced that they wished to move Charging Bull to a plaza outside the New York Stock Exchange due to safety concerns at Bowling Green.

[32] In fall 2021, artist Nelson Saiers placed a series of sculptures next to the Bull to comment on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy and inflation.

From 2013, Harmer began documenting the life of the artist, commissioning new sculptures, buying back historical works and building a global market.

[42] In October 2018, the first major work by Modica came to auction, a 6ft polished bronze version of Charging Bull at Phillips London which was the first in an edition of eight and marked "1987–89".

During Occupy Wall Street on multiple occasions an interfaith group of religious leaders led a procession of a golden calf figure that was modeled on the bull.

[50][51] A large papier-mâché piñata made by Sebastian Errazuriz for a 2014 New York design festival was intended to be reminiscent of both the golden calf and Charging Bull.

[53] As a prominent symbol of Wall Street and capitalism generally, Charging Bull has been the frequent target of vandalism, particularly as an act of civil disobedience.

[54] Leading up to a protest on May 12, 2011, the bull was tagged in at least two locations, once again including the scrotum, with the Anarchist "circle-A" iconography, prompting the New York City Police Department to temporarily install barricades around the sculpture.

[55] The barriers returned that fall during the Occupy Wall Street protests, and remained in place until March 25, 2014,[56] despite a unanimous resolution from the local community board saying they constituted a hazard to pedestrians.

[57] On September 14, 2017, three months after U.S. president Donald Trump formally announced the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change, an artist attempting to highlight U.S. popular support for the accord doused the head of the sculpture in a blue pigment.

[60][61] Professional Bull Riders donated money from its ticket sales to pay for fixes to the horn,[62] and Di Modica personally came to the site the following month to repair his creation.

[64][65] In June 2020, Charging Bull was covered in a tarp and monitored by police to protect it from vandalism attempts during the George Floyd protests in New York City.

[66] The history of the sculpture and its sculptor was presented in the 2014 Italian documentary film Il Toro di Wall Street, released internationally as The Charging Bull.

[68][69] Charging Bull has featured in several films set in Manhattan, including The Big Short, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Hitch.