The 86th Street station was constructed for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) as part of the city's first subway line, which was approved in 1900.

The station was built with tile and mosaic decorations, although the platform extensions contain a cinder block design.

[5]: 21  However, development of what would become the city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the New York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act.

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.

[5]: 161 The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900,[7] under which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line.

[6]: 4  Belmont incorporated the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.

East Side local trains ran from City Hall to Lenox Avenue (145th Street).

[10] To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.

[11]: 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.

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.

[16][17] In 1927, an additional staircase was constructed from the uptown platform to the northeastern corner of 86th Street and Broadway by Patteli & Wilson for $25,300.

Additional columns between the tracks, spaced every 5 feet (1.5 m), support the jack-arched concrete station roofs.

[44]: 9 This station retains original mosaic and terracotta wall reliefs, consisting of purple characters surrounded by yellow and blue tiles.

[44]: 37  The ceilings of the original platforms and fare control areas contain plaster molding.

[44]: 10  At the northern part of the station, where the platforms have been extended, the walls have cream-colored tiles with a pink trim line and black "86th ST" written on them at regular intervals.

[48] Westside Views is one of two works Tufiño made for MTA Arts & Design; the other, Neo-Boriken – a solo effort – can be found at 103rd Street on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line.

[50] The northbound platform's fare control area contains stairs to the northeast and southeast corners of West 86th Street and Broadway, while the southbound platform's fare control area here contains stairs to the northwest and southwest corners of the same intersection.