I want to clarify that the staircase seen in the old thread below was temporary, and in fact only a few years old when demolished; it was never a part of the original pre-9/11 Cortlandt Street 
station. In fact, the west side of Church Street had no staircase leading down to this station before 9/11; the southbound platform could only be accessed west of Church Street from the WTC mall (as has once again been the case since last week). This station only received minor damage on 9/11, and the staircase in question was built specifically to replace the southbound platform access points that were demolished along with the old WTC mall.
http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/topic/1384-guess-the-station/
