The station being so deep is definitely a pity, but people still have more options than they did before.

Getting from LIRR to the 4/5/6 is hardly the only benefit of LIRR@GCT, not sure why that's the only measurememt people are talking about. Inconvenient access to the 4/5/6 within Grand Central is hardly a new concept. It has always sucked ass getting to the 4/5/6, let alone transferring to the 7.