Cohen’s Fashion Optical

Fast and effective. The exam process was a breeze and the doctor was very professional.

Worst customer service! Purchased a groupon and confirmed my current prescription with them.
Showed up for my appointment, they redeemed my voucher first then the doctor came out and told me they can’t do exams for stigmatisms. Wtf
He walked away without as much as a «sorry» and told ME to call groupon to get my refund.

Very friendly staff. Doctor was quick and professional. I was served right when I walked in. Leah, the woman at the front, was very helpful and have me a discount on my optometry appointment. I will definitely be going back!

Taliah and Marina are AMAZING!!! I went to get new glasses in 2014 and they helped me. Over a year later I walked in and they recognized my glasses immediately. They helped me yet again by providing excellent service. Patient, friendly, knowledgeable — they picked frames that I wouldn’t normally consider and they are what I ultimately went with.
The doctor there is also very kind! Both times I went in he was just headed out for lunch and both times he stayed to help me before taking his break! That’s commitment and customer service that’s not available in NY anymore. Sad, but true.
BUT! That is not the case here. This is a case of incredible and valued customer service. The glasses are expensive, my insurance is garbage, but I continue to go there because they know glasses!
I’m grateful for their excellent service — Taliah and Marina — THANK YOU!!!

Such s great experience here. Nina and Leah were so helpful in every step of getting my new glasses at a great price. Definitely would recommend to anyone who need an exam and glasses!!!

Super helpful staff with good deals. Came for a contact lens exam and was done in 15 minutes, however I stuck to my old brand so there was no fitting needed. Obviously that would take longer. When it came to glasses, Nina was very knowledgeable and helpful. She helped me find a stylish pair and got me the best possible deal to fit my limited budget. They are very accommodating and friendly, I’ll definitely be back

Five stars for the service and the deal ($ 150 for frames and lenses). I give four stars overall since they don’t have as extensive or as trendy a selection as some other places, but I got what I needed – another extra pair of specs. I now have five pairs. My latest are from Cohen’s. Christine was extremely nice and I did not feel pushed toward extras or higher end frames. I picked up the glasses two days’ after I ordered them and the woman working was also exceedingly nice.
I do have a pair of Warby’s and when I put on the Cohen’s glasses, I could then tell that the Warby lenses are not very good. That is a review for another time.
I would go back for more. Cohen’s and other retailers are competing with online retailers, so you can get a deal. So I am adding to previous review: I came back for my second pair. I would be remiss if I did not also mention the other salesperson, Leah. She was at the store when I picked up first pair of glasses. She was so enormously helpful and nice that I had to order second pair. Customer service is key and this location has excellent service. I get the feeling everyone is treated well and whoever does the hiring takes personality into account. Thumbs up.

I have been coming to this optical since the end of 2013. The optical has made drastic changes in the past few months. The employees have changed and they really work with you and cater to your wishes. I felt that they really cared for me and wanted me to leave happy. I have an extremely high prescription as well which made choosing the frames a little difficult but the optician worked extremely hard with me.

Something possessed me a number of years ago to get some lightweight wire «inexpensive» computer glasses at Cohen Fashion Optical. I was satisfied with them for the price.
Over the years, they got a little out of whack and I recently brought them to this CFO location to see if they could straighten the stems.
I walked in, explained what I wanted and was referred to the person who is apparently in charge of breaking glasses there. He just started bending them with his bare hands. Aren’t they supposed to warm them up first? He kept putting them on me, looking at me and at them quizzically and then bending them more.
When he was not able to get them right, I asked the more-​in-​charge-​than-​him person what to do. She said I needed to go to the CFO Union Square location where they had an optician on staff. So why were they having this joker mangling my glasses?
(I did then go to Union Square. The optician was out to lunch and they said no one else would handle that job. I waited for him. He tried the glasses on me, went back to warm them up, yadda yadda yadda, he did a beautiful job.)
I would avoid this Chelsea location.

This is the place to go for customer service and speedy turnaround. Taliah spent nearly an hour and a half with me and was nothing but helpful, kind, informed, and fun – she put up with me and also made the process totally stress free. My same day glasses were ready within a half hour. When I came back two days later with an issue they fixed it on the spot.
The only reason they lose a star is because of the prices. Sure, they have more affordable options, but to get truly good quality glasses you’re gonna pay no less than most other places.

More than one angry woman working in this location. The prescription sunglasses I got from Cohen were sub-​standard. I had to take them back several times to fix them. And, they charged me $ 3.00 for a tiny screw. I will never go back.

They were truly wonderful. A breath of fresh air. Solid customer service.
Marina helped me out and was so nice and welcoming when I walked in. They took me without an appointment. I had a solid, thorough eye exam with Dr. M., and when I ordered contact lenses after my exam, they told me it would be a week before they came in — so they gave me three extra pairs in advance for the inconvenience.
SO VERY HAPPY with this Cohen’s! You will be too.

I felt sleazy walking out of this place. Never again, and please don’t suffer the same fate as me. Protect yourselves. I’m the optimist, positive guest and Unilocal reviewer… but this place is straight awful.
I DID get a Groupon. For some reason, you always wind up paying double with these magical discounts. $ 59 for an eye exam and $ 200 towards glasses. My eye exam was good, on point.
Post-​eye-​exam I picked out the cheapest, cutest frames I could find from their limited selection. Then the swindling sales person jotted down some notes on a piece of paper that looked like my prescription «200» and «99» and «399» — really she was calculating my total cost post-​discount. $ 478. WHAT?! How?
I got cheaper lenses and a «discount» and still wound up spending $ 407 after it was all said and done. Don’t try to cheat the system. Get your eye exam somewhere free, then take yourself to the super cute BonLook or Warby Parker and get yourself 5 pairs of glasses instead of one from Cohen’s.

LOVEEEEE this location. Marina and other staff are amazing, warm and helpful. It isn’t easy to find good care now a days. Definitely worth coming even if you have to go out of your way to get here (even though you won’t have to; pretty convenient location).
Great great great place for all your optical needs.

I went in yesterday to get my new glasses (2) and a pair of old sunglasses adjusted to fit better. An older man, I think Italian, and super grouchy, «helped» me.
I told him the nose pads needed to be adjusted to fit my nose better and after the 5^th attempt, I told him to forget it and I would go somewhere else (who knew what they were doing). He was just like fine ok and handed the glasses back to me.
He did not seem to care one bit. Why? Because I did not purchase my glasses from them? What else are you going to do in an empty store with 3 employees? I’m sorry I’m not dumb enough to spend $ 300+ on a pair of glasses that are only needed when on the computer.
I’ll take these to my regular optometrist.
And after I packed up my stuff, another one of the employees turned around and asked what was wrong. I told her he messed up my glasses and she just gives me a sad but I don’t care face «sorry». Pathetic.
Seriously, go to
to order your glasses! Super affordable and they have thousands of selections!

Great place, very friendly service. There was a bit of nudging to purchase expensive glasses and more adjustments but understandable. This place understands customer service.

I admit I’ve never bought anything here, as I don’t require glasses.
Came here with a friend who was unhappy with her purchase at a different Cohen’s (on Long Island), and wanted to see if she could exchange them here, since there was supposed to be a guarantee. Turns out you can’t, because most of the Cohen’s are franchise, and you can only exchange across different locations if they’re both Corporate-​owned.
But the woman who helped us was amazing! She took a good hour or more helping my friend try on glasses, and picking out a few models that she liked best, and wrote down the names for her to see if she could order them from the Cohen’s where she’d made the purchase. You can tell this was a woman who truly enjoys her job. She was incredibly helpful, in spite of the fact that it was pretty obvious she wasn’t going to get a sale from us. I truly respect that. It’s rare you get good customer service at ALL these days… let alone when you clearly aren’t going to buy anything.
I only wish I remembered her name. But if I had to get glasses, I would definitely come back and see her.

Everyone in this location is AWESOME!
Particularly, a lovely lady named Marina!
You want good old fashioned customer service?
GO HERE!
Everyone is super nice, but Marina ROCKS!
Give that woman a raise!

I’m back to the city after an extended period of time away, and needed a new eye doctor. I saw Cohen’s $ 20 Eye Exam coupon and decided to check it out.
The atmosphere here is very casual as are the staff and doctor, yet they were all professionals. Everyone was so kind! I had a great time choosing new frame, and even got a discount (I think 10% or so) when I decided to get transition lenses. They also had a Buy 1 Get 1 Free deal going on, so I bought two frames instead of one.
While I spent a nice chunk of change because I don’t have vision insurance, it was still a business where I could have spent far less for a great pair of glasses and experience.
I’ll definitely be back mostly for the great people! Especially when one of the staff let me take her transition lenses outside to test them in the sun!

I had the exact same experience as Jessica B when purchasing Rx glasses and watched as my «$ 100 Glasses» suddenly became $ 400 for no discernible reason. Unlike Jessica, I was foolish enough to buy the glasses, as I didn’t have any, and they assured me I could get them in about 2 days. This did not prove to be true, as they took 2+ weeks to receive.
Additionally, I purchased the warranty on the guarantee from the store manager that it would cover any and all damage to the glasses, including frames and lenses. This, too, proved not to be the case, as when I needed a replacement pair they would only cover the frames and not the lenses. Having no other choice I told them to simply replace the frames, and I would have to accept that they were operating under immoral business practices by not honoring their warranty (I have been waiting for my replacement frames — WITHOUT any lenses — for over 3 weeks!)
Do NOT go to Cohen’s! There are so many cheaper, better, faster, reliable options both in the city and online.
FOLLOW-​UP TO REVIEW:
I was contacted by John S. who identified himself as the Brand Ambassador, which I found encouraging in the hopes that he might help me resolve with the company’s refusal to honor their warranty. As per his instruction I replied in detail explaining the difficulties I had been having. That was the last I heard from the «Brand Ambassador» (which, given their poor customer service is the perfect title for John S.) After 16 years of going to Cohen’s, I’m sorry to say that they have really fallen off the deep end, and no longer deserve my (or any of my fellow Unilocalers) business, and I regret not being able to give a lower star rating than 1.
Here endeth my diatribe.