The station has one narrow, slightly curved island platform. There is an abandoned tower at the north end of the platform. The station has two mezzanines, four open staircases, three closed staircases, and one escalator. The full-time entrance at Madison Street has one street staircase, while the part-time entrance at Canal and Rutgers Streets has three. A passageway outside of fare control connects the two areas. The tile band is medium Parma violet with a slightly darker border, set two tiles high. Captions below show the station name abbreviated as "E BWAY". The I-beams are painted a similar shade of violet. The trackside walls show a considerable pattern of aging and occasional water damage. The 1992 artwork at this station is called Displacing Details by Noel Copeland, with assistance by students from the Henry Street Settlement. There are many closed sections at East Broadway. There are restrooms that have been converted to office spaces. Inside fare control, the open intermediate level's mezzanine is split into two halves; the portion between the two halves was shuttered and is now used as maintenance space. Right below the open intermediate level is an entire closed intermediate level mezzanine, which is indicated by a brief intermediate level on staircases from the open mezzanine to the platform and now serves as storage space as well. This closed mezzanine is accessible through fenced-off stairways at the either end of the station.
Unfinished station
The north half of the open intermediate level mezzanine was designed to eventually become a station of the unbuilt IND Worth Street Line. A locked door, located in the north end of the mezzanine, reveals additional closed platform space and an electrical room that hides the rest of the trackway and platform space. In this closed space, the platform floor drops to the level of the intended westbound trackway for the unbuilt line. The unused space runs for no more than before ending at a solid wall. Another door that leads to the electrical room hides the eastbound trackway. Near the north end of this station, a different ceiling structure angling across marks where the unbuilt subway would have gone. The ramp that descends from the full-time side would have led to the same intermediate level, with a station facility in between, but that was never constructed. On the open intermediate level's mezzanine, the unusual spacing of some of the pillars marks where the line's platforms would have been placed. The closed trackways are also accessible through the closed intermediate level mezzanine, though this level is somewhat lower than that of the trackways.
West side of Rutgers Street between Canal Street and East Broadway
SE corner of East Broadway and Rutgers Street
NW corner of Madison Street and Rutgers Street
In addition to the open entrances, there are two closed exits to the southwestern and northeastern corners of Henry Street and Rutgers Street that lead to the middle of the passageway outside fare control. There was also a short passage with a street stair parallel to Rutgers Street to the northeastern corner of Madison Street and Rutgers Street. In June 2018, improvements to the East Broadway station's exits were proposed as part of the development of the controversial 247 Cherry, 269 South Street, and 259 Clinton Street skyscrapers. The developers planned to create an entrance at the northeastern corner of Rutgers and Madison Streets by reusing part of the existing closed exit and creating a new street stair parallel to Madison Street from the passage. In addition to a new exit, the developers planned to make the station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 with the installation of elevators. The plan was approved that December, but the developments were blocked by a New York Supreme Court judge in late February 2020, making the proposed improvements unlikely to occur.
