The original portion of the IRT station's interior is a New York City designated landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx.

[7] On March 14, 1903, the 59th Street station hosted a ceremony in which mayor Seth Low drove the first spike for the IRT subway's first track.

[11][4]: 186  The opening of the first subway line, and particularly the 59th Street station, helped contribute to the development of Columbus Circle and the Upper West Side.

[12]: 9 To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.

[13]: 168  As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains.

[13]: 168 As early as March 1914, local business owners and workers began advocating for the 59th Street–Columbus Circle station to be converted into an express stop.

[26][27] On December 9, 1924, the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) gave preliminary approval to the construction of a subway line along Eighth Avenue, running from 207th Street.

[48] In addition, relief panels would have been placed above the stairways leading to the northbound and southbound platforms, respectively depicting personifications of winter and summer.

[51][52] The arena plan, originally envisioned as a replacement for Madison Square Garden, ultimately evolved into the New York Coliseum convention center.

[53] As part of the unification of the New York City Subway system, the passageways between the IRT and IND stations were placed inside fare control on July 1, 1948.

[58][59] The conversion would entail constructing a separate island platform for express trains, similar to the arrangement at 34th Street–Penn Station, at a cost of $5 million.

[58][59] In March 1955, the NYCTA approved contracts with engineering firms for the design and construction of four projects across the subway system, including the conversion of the 59th Street station.

[69] A New York Times article attributed the development of the Coliseum and 2 Columbus Circle to the presence of the 59th Street station, which had increased the neighborhood's accessibility.

[71] As part of that project, a sunken circular plaza was built, with a large staircase leading to the 59th Street–Columbus Circle station and to the building's basement.

[72] Though the station had a direct entrance to the Gulf and Western Building, it lacked similar connections to 2 Columbus Circle or the Coliseum.

[73] By 1970, NYCTA officials ranked the Columbus Circle station as one of the twelve most congested places in the subway system, where trains suffered from significant delays due to overcrowding.

[75] The same year, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), an MTA subsidiary that owned the Coliseum, spent $1 million on two escalators between the mezzanine and the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 58th Street.

[76] The escalators opened in October 1975 and were intended largely for patients of the nearby Roosevelt Hospital, but they initially were often out of service due to "repeated vandalism".

[84][85] The next year, a joint venture of Boston Properties and Phibro-Salomon Inc. was selected to redevelop the site as part of the Columbus Center project.

[109] As part of the project, two subway entrances opened at the northwest corner of 60th Street and Broadway in 2008, connecting with the downtown IRT platform.

The original subway north of Times Square thus became part of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, and all local trains were sent to South Ferry.

[134][135] When the IND Eighth Avenue Line opened, the station was served by express (A) and local (AA) trains between Chambers and 207th Street.

[115] This station formerly had an artwork called Hello Columbus, installed in 1992 and made by various New York City artists and public school students.

A wide staircase from that plaza leads to the northern part of the IND mezzanine, adjacent to the north end of the northbound IRT platform.

[153] Two staircases from the northwest corner of Broadway and 60th Street descend to a fare control area leading to the southbound IRT platform.

[143]: 4 [153] There are two additional staircases from the median of Broadway between Columbus Circle and 60th Street, which also lead to a fare control area adjacent to the southbound IRT platform.

[154]: 3 The Deutsche Bank Center at the northwest corner of 58th Street and Eighth Avenue has an elevator, escalators, and a staircase descending to a fare control area.

[174][175] The stations on the Eighth Avenue Line were built with 600-foot (180 m) long platforms, but there were provisions to lengthen them to 660 feet (200 m) to accommodate eleven-car trains.

It was proposed to develop the mezzanines of these four stations with shops, so that they would become retail corridors, similar to the underground mall at Rockefeller Center.