The station opened on August 23, 1920, as part of an extension of the IRT Eastern Parkway Line by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company.

Contract 2 extended the original line from City Hall in Manhattan to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.

[16] During the 1964–1965 fiscal year, the platforms at Kingston Avenue, along with those at four other stations on the Eastern Parkway Line, were lengthened to 525 feet (160 m) to accommodate a ten-car train of 51-foot (16 m) IRT cars.

[18] As part of its 2025–2029 Capital Program, the MTA has proposed making the station wheelchair-accessible in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

"N" tablets on a blue background and brown border run along the trim line at regular intervals.

The platform extensions at either end have signs reading "NOSTRAND AVE" in white sans serif lettering on a brown border.

The center of the platforms has green I-beam columns at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black station name plate in white lettering.

It has a turnstile bank, token booth, and two staircases going up to the south side mall of Eastern Parkway (between the main and service roads) and Nostrand Avenue.