Yup - the old staircase is still in the facade of the building connecting to the station below - I'm not quite sure if/how it'll reopen once the building renovation is done, though I can't imagine the owners not leveraging that connection as a selling point. They closed those stairs sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. The history of that building is covered in this book:
http://ltvsquad.com/product/7-line-l-i-c/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As for the rest of the neighborhood...
https://ny.curbed.com/maps/long-island- ... uction-map" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; More new apartments than anywhere else in the country, with a population in the next 5 years that will rival many small midwest cities.
I don't think it's a matter of 'if' passenger trains will run on the lower montauk again - i think it's a question of when, and in what form. Same goes for an LIRR stop at sunnyside, or perhaps enhanced service to/from HPA.