The Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard station opened on February 1, 1917, as part of the initial segment of the IRT Astoria Line.

It is partially under the New York Connecting Railroad (NYCR) viaduct, which also carries the tracks of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

Members of the PSC pointed out the need to extend the line from the terminal to Ditmars Boulevard and Steinway Street.

[15] In February 2018, the MTA announced that the station would be renovated for 14 months beginning in April of that year, as part of a $22 million project.

As part of the MTA Arts & Design program, Elisabeth Condon created an artwork for the station, titled Urban Idyll, which was installed in 2018.

The east side of the station house has a short, enclosed pedestrian bridge that leads to the Ditmars Plaza Mini Mall, located on the second floor of the adjacent Garry Building.

The MTA also considered an eastward extension along Ditmars Boulevard, and a plan to reroute LaGuardia-bound trains from Queensboro Plaza through the Sunnyside rail yard and along the eastern edge of St. Michael’s Cemetery to elevated tracks parallel to the Grand Central Parkway.

[24][25] After the AirTrain LaGuardia people mover, which would have run to Mets–Willets Point, was canceled in 2023, a panel of three transportation experts recommended that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operate a shuttle bus route from the airport to the Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard station.

[26][27] The Regional Plan Association, in its Fourth Plan in 2017, anticipated that the population of Astoria would quickly grow over the next three decades, and so called for the Astoria Line to be extended to a new storage yard at Ditmars Boulevard and 20th Street, which would provide added capacity.

In addition, a new station at 21st Avenue and 20th Street would improve access for the currently underserved but dense northwest parts of Astoria.