[4] New York City mayor John Francis Hylan's original plans for the Independent Subway System (IND), proposed in 1922, included building over 100 miles (160 km) of new lines and taking over nearly 100 miles (160 km) of existing lines, which would compete with the IRT and the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), the two major subway operators of the time.

[9] The York Street station opened just after midnight on April 9, 1936, when trains began running under the East River via the Rutgers Street Tunnel, which connected the existing portion of the Sixth Avenue Line to a junction with the Eighth Avenue Line north of Jay Street–Borough Hall.

For example, when the northern exit was obscured by smoke during a fire in 2003, several commuters were hospitalized because they were mistakenly diverted to the south end of the platform.

[18] In 2016, Delson or Sherman Architects proposed a new accessible entrance at the south end of the York Street station.

[21] The study found that both options for a new southern entrance would be prohibitively expensive because of the complex infrastructure around the site.

[15]: 10–11  At the time, the MTA was expected to receive $7 million for station improvements from the developer of a nearby building.