The station opened on January 1, 1936, as part of the portion of the Sixth Avenue Line between West Fourth Street–Washington Square and East Broadway.

Upon opening, E trains, which ran from Jackson Heights, Queens to Hudson Terminal, were shifted to the new line to East Broadway.

The tracks were intended to travel under the East River and connect with the never-built IND Worth Street Line in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

[9] A limited number of rush-hour M trains from Queens terminated here between July 2017 and April 2018 during a reconstruction project on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line (replicating the former V service).

[11] The trackside walls have a medium Parma violet trim line with a slightly darker border, and small tile captions reading "2ND AVE" in white on black run below it at regular intervals.

East of the station, the center tracks continue disused along Houston, but rise to an upper level and stub-end near Avenue A at bumper blocks.

It was planned that these tracks would continue under the East River to the South Fourth Street Line, part of a never-built system expansion.

[14] These tracks east of the station were previously used for train storage but became an oft-frequented spot for the homeless due to its location near local missions and soup kitchens.

[14][15] The area was cleared out in 1990, and corrugated metal walls with bumper blocks were installed just past the east end of the platforms to seal the tunnels.