Construction and opening The 53rd Street station was constructed as part of the Fourth Avenue Line, the plan for which was initially adopted on June 1, 1905. The Rapid Transit Commission was succeeded on July 1, 1907, by the
New York State Public Service Commission (PSC), which approved the plan for the line in late 1907. As part of negotiations between New York City, the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), and the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company for the expansion of the city's transit network, the line was leased to a subsidiary of the BRT. The agreement, known as Contract 4 of the
Dual Contracts, was signed on March 19, 1913. The line's opening was marked with a competition between two trains heading from
Chambers Street station in Manhattan to the Coney Island station, one heading via the
West End Line and the other via the Sea Beach Line; the latter got to Coney Island first. despite being technically complete, since the stations were being used by a contractor to haul dirt out. The stations opened on September 22, 1915.
Station renovations 1920s On June 27, 1922, the New York State Transit Commission commissioned its engineers to examine platform-lengthening plans for 23 stations on the lines of the
Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), the successor to the BRT, to accommodate eight-car trains. As part of the project, 53rd Street's platforms would have been lengthened from to . Though the Transit Commission ordered the BMT to lengthen these platforms in September 1923, progress on the extensions did not occur until February 16, 1925, when the
New York City Board of Transportation (NYCBOT) commissioned its engineers to examine platform-lengthening plans for this and eleven other stations along the Fourth Avenue Line. It estimated the project would cost $633,000 () (). The NYCBOT received bids for the project on February 25, 1926. The contract was awarded to the Corson Construction Company for $345,021 () (). The extensions opened on August 1, 1927.
1960s The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940. In the 1960s, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) started a project to lengthen station platforms on its lines in Southern Brooklyn to to accommodate 10-car trains. On July 14, 1967, the NYCTA awarded a contract to conduct test borings at eleven stations on the Fourth Avenue Line, including 53rd Street, to the W. M. Walsh Corporation for $6,585 () in preparation of the construction of platform extensions (). The NYCTA issued an invitation for bids on the project to extend the platforms at stations along the Fourth Avenue Line between
45th Street station and
Bay Ridge—95th Street, including this station, on May 3, 1968. As part of the renovation project, the station's platforms were extended to the south,
2017 As part of the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 2015–2019 Capital Program, the station, along with thirty other New York City Subway stations, were scheduled to undergo a complete overhaul as part of the
Enhanced Station Initiative. Updates were to include cellular service, Wi-Fi, USB charging stations, interactive service advisories and maps, improved signage, and improved station lighting. From January to May 2016,
Grimshaw Architects worked on a design for the station's renovation, with
Arup Group acting as a consultant. Citnalta-Forte Joint Venture was selected to renovate the three stations under a $72 million
design–build contract, the first such contract in the subway system's history. The station was closed on March 27, 2017, for these renovations, and reopened on September 8, 2017, ahead of schedule. In July 2025, the MTA announced that it would install elevators at 12 stations, including the 53rd Street station, as part of its 2025–2029 capital program. The elevators would make the station fully compliant with the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. == Station layout ==