Located at the intersection of Second Avenue and 86th Street, in the Yorkville section of the Upper East Side in Manhattan, it opened on January 1, 2017.

Since opening, the presence of the Second Avenue Subway's three Phase 1 stations has improved real estate prices along the corridor.

The Second Avenue Line was originally proposed in 1919 as part of a massive expansion of what would become the Independent Subway System (IND).

[9] Numerous plans for the Second Avenue Subway appeared throughout the 20th century, but these were usually deferred due to lack of funds.

[13] The Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposed a full-length Second Avenue Subway as part of its 1968 Program for Action.

[17] All Second Avenue Subway stations built under the Program for Action would have included escalators, high intensity lighting, improved audio systems, platform edge strips, and non-slip floors to accommodate the needs of the elderly and people with disabilities, but no elevators.

[18] The stations were to be made with brick walls and pavers alongside stainless steel, and would have relatively small dimensions, with 10-foot (3.0 m) mezzanine ceilings.

[19]: 110 A combination of Federal and State funding was obtained, and despite the controversy over the number of stops and route, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 27, 1972, at Second Avenue and 103rd Street.

[16][20][21] Although work on the 86th Street station never commenced, three short segments of tunnel in East Harlem and Chinatown were built.

[26][27][28] The line's first phase, the "first major expansion" to the New York City Subway in more than a half-century,[29] included three stations in total (at 72nd, 86th, and 96th Streets), which collectively cost $4.45 to $4.5 billion.

[36] On September 15, 2011, the contract for building the station was awarded to the joint venture of Skanska USA and Traylor Bros Inc.[37][38][39] As of January 17, 2013[update], the cavern stretching from 83rd to 87th Streets was 57% excavated.

[55][56] As with other stations on the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway, it was designed and engineered by a joint venture of Arup and AECOM.

[63] According to an internal study prepared for the MTA in 2020, the 86th Street station could theoretically accommodate half-height platform edge doors.

Full-height platform screen doors would be possible but would necessitate the installation of structural bracing and relocation of several mechanical systems.

[64] In 2009, MTA Arts & Design selected Chuck Close from a pool of 300 potential artists to create the artwork for the station.

[65] His work consists of a series of twelve portraits of the city's cultural figures,[66] spread over 1,000 square feet (93 m2) of wall.

The second category is composed of portraits of younger, more ethnically diverse artists including Zhang Huan, Sienna Shields and Pozsi B. Kolor.

In 2009, a Finding Of No Significant Impact by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) found this to be unfeasible, so the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) revised the plan to two separate sidewalk entrances in front of the building.

[76] The lawsuit was later dismissed because the suit had been filed two years after the FTA's FONSI was published, which was past the statute of limitations.