NY 88 was truncated on its southern end to Phelps in August 1972 as part of a statewide elimination of overlaps, such as NY 88 and NY 96. The old alignment between NY 21 and NY 96 was re-designated as NY 488.
In August 1972, the southern portion of NY 88 was shortened to Phelps as part of a state-wide effort to eliminate duplicate routes like NY 88 and NY 96. The former route connecting NY 21 and NY 96 was then redesignated as NY 488.