Gramercy Park Optical Services

Paul provided excellent customer service throughout my visit. Excellent doctors and easy to make appointments

Dr. Zimmerman is does an excellent job of prescribing lens for relatively complicated eye glasses. Have been using his services for a long time and found he is better than ophthalmologists for prescriptions. I have recommended his services to others who have been satisfied as well. The store staff is very pleasant and helpful.

1 word: exceptional. This is the best way to describe my experience with Dr. Zimmerman and Gramercy Park Optical Services. Let me give the most recent example:
I had a medical scare with my eyes. It was a Friday afternoon in the summer. The majority of NY checks out for Summer Fridays, but not Dr. Z or his team. He immediately attended to me and when he felt I needed to see a specialist he personally reached out to his network, pulling strings to get me a walk-​in appointment uptown to see an ophthalmologist. He continued to check-​in with me as I was heading to the appointment as well as post-​visit. And even after he left his office for the weekend, he made himself available to me and provided his cell phone. After the medical scare I returned to his office to personally thank him and he took his time to explain the specialists findings.
This is just one example of how the Dr. Zimmerman and his team go Above + Beyond. I’ve been a patient for just shy of five years, and they have exceeded my expectations for a healthcare provided. My experience is always constant: thorough and informative exams, a warm, very patient and knowledgeable staff (Ivy, Paul, Vince, Ala, Irene), plus quick and precise service with my orders.
This is only the second time I’ve ever written a Unilocal review, but Gramercy Park Optical has earned my loyalty and appreciation.

I have been going to Dr. Zimmerman for 3 years now and I have had nothing by great experiences. Every eye and contact exam I have had has been completely thorough and taken no more than 15 minutes. The whole staff there is wonderful and welcoming and makes sure that you are seen right away and you are getting the best price. For as long as I live in NYC, I will continue to go to Dr. Zimmerman and Gramercy Park Optical.

I’m sorry but I also have to second this place really shady business operations. I did not go for an eye exam, just to get a pair of glasses was quoted $ 198. When I came back to get the glasses, it seems that there was a mistake with my billing and it’s supposed to be $ 211. Well I told them that it’s not fair that they are not honoring their quote — because if it was higher than I might have chosen a different pair. The man goes into the back room and then comes back saying I know owe $ 206 and that’s bc they don’t want any auditing issues. Have they been audited before? I just pay the damn glasses but honestly not coming back to a place that raise prices on you. Restaurants don’t say «hey wait a minute you actually owe us more than what’s on the menu» — if it’s more they should bite the cost. And because they can’t even eat just a few bucks more, they are not getting my future business at all.

This is truly a shady operation and I won’t go back. I had been coming here for years and seeing Dr. Zimmerman’s Dr in training, I guess. She was great. She is no longer there.
He does always sneak in the pictures for the eye exam without consulting patients and then adds an extra $ 50 – 60 on the bill. To be clear, he claims that if you use the light for your eye exam, he won’t charge you but if you use the pictures he will. Half the time the staff will take it off since he’s really not allowed to do that without consulting the patient. Last time I asked him about it and he said, well you have sensitive eyes so I didn’t even want to try the light on you. Well I don’t want to pay for your pictures.
He also is very shady about the contact situation. I’ve spoken to all my co workers on the same vision plan and they say none of their eye dr’s charge $ 200 for a «contact exam». Its just part of the regular yearly eye exam to either fit you with new glasses or contacts. On the off year I didn’t have eye glasses coverage they charged me $ 850 for glasses without the coverage. I get they’re expensive but go to Warby Parker — very similar glasses and the most they charge is $ 150. He also tried to charge me to take my prescription out of his practice and get contacts online. His mark up per box is unbelievable. I won’t be going back to Dr. Zimmerman.

The appointments were running late and I was the last of the day. The doctor had a wedding to go to and (I’m sure) everyone wanted to go home. That didn’t stop them from being helpful and attentive. I was never rushed and the entire staff offered their opinion when I kept alternating the same two frames over and over again. They even entertained my daughter when I was with the doctor and patiently worked through my insurance to get me the best deal (I was getting multiple frames.) Kudos all around.

Very nice people, I just got into town and forgot my contacts in Boston. I showed them my prescription and they gave me sample lenses to get me through the trip. They wouldn’t take any money either. Recommend.

I saw Dr. Kline and she was professional, efficient, and easy to talk to. My test showed that I am slightly farsighted, but she left the decision to get glasses up to me, and did not pressure me to do anything unnecessary. One of the tests I got was not covered by my insurance, but I was notified before my appointment and given the option not to do it.

We have been taking our three year old daughter there for about eight months now and she just got her second pair of glasses there. We were a bit concerned at first because of the negative reviews but took a chance because they were the only ones that had the particular frames we were looking for for our three year olds first glasses. The second time, I also ordered my own glasses with them and overall our experience was great. We always ask for Vincent and he is always great and spends lots of time helping our daughter pick her frames. They worked with our insurance and did all the paperwork so we had no problems at all. We’ve never done eye exams there so we can’t speak to that experience but we always had a good experience with the staff and their services each time we went.

I went in for eyeglasses. The woman who was showing me frames took a phone call while helping me try on new eyeglasses, the girl helping me showed little interest in helping me. Frames was nothing special. I would not recommend this place.

Dr. Holloway is the best

I have been going to Dr. Zimmerman for 12 years! I have always had the best experiences there so I am not sure if some of these reviews are just sour grapes. I am the first one to complain when something is bad and compliment when something is above my expectations.
Dr. Zimmerman always takes his time with me and I leave feeling I have just had the best exam EVER! If I get contacts he explains the new ones and I usually take his advice. Sometimes I order my lenses there or sometimes 1800 contacts. Either way it is all about the exam.
When I am getting glasses, I can’t imagine anyone complaining about the staff or the service. I get great glasses and with a smile and a thank you!
I have VSP and the frame selection is amazing. Always new things and I leave looking forward to my «new look». I get confused with what the insurance covers, but they went out of their way to explain it to me!
Now I can’t be the only person who has checked the filtered reviews!
So why are all the good ones filtered and the bad ones in front?
Hmmmmmmmmmm…I think Unilocal needs Help!
I agree with Julie and think you have to know what your insurance covers before you go anywhere. Does your medical doctor tell you that you will get a bill for 150.00 for blood work? I agree Julie, its not that hard!

Beware of Dr Zimmerman! He took a digital photo of my retina during my contact lens eye exam and proceeded to charge for the photo without warning it wouldn’t be covered by insurance. His receptionist proceeded to give me some BS story about how it’s required by the insurance company for all examinations. Little did she know that my wife had been the previous week for the same eye exam and didn’t have the digital photo taken. When I asked her about why my wife’s eye exam didn’t have it done, she stammered, went to consult Dr Zimmerman and in the end couldn’t explain why wife didn’t have the same photo taken.
This kind of experience leaves a very poor taste in the mouth. I’ll be looking for a new optician in the future.

This place is a scam and shady. I for a eye exam and specifically said I wanted a checkup because my insurance covered 1 per year.
They ended up taking a bunch of tests without telling me they were extra or asking if I wanted them done and then charged me for them. One of them was a «prescription evaluation» for $ 60 when I don’t even need glasses/​contacts! They tried to charge me $ 119, I ended up paying $ 60, but it should have only been $ 20. Would definitely not go back.

I found everything very routine at GPO. Doc was professional, the sales people helped me pick a great pair of glasses. I will go again!

Not sure about other Unilocalers’ experiences but I’ve been a patient of Dr. Zimmerman for 5+ years now. I’ve never had a negative experience with him or his staff. In fact, they’ve been very courteous and hospitable. I order my contacts through 1−800-CONTACTS and have to get a prescription from my doctor first. They know that that’s what I’m doing and don’t make a big deal about it.
Before I go in, I know what my insurance covers and what it doesn’t so there isn’t a surprise bill at the end. Some of the other reviews sound like they don’t read the fine print on their insurance before they jaunt over to get contacts or glasses… It’s not that hard people!!!

I left here feeling cheated but I don’t know if its really their fault or my insurance’s. I went in to get my eyes checked for a prescription for contacts. I have astigmatism and apparently my insurance does not cover that kind of vision correction via contacts. So I had to pay $ 200 for the exam! I was NOT expecting this or I wouldn’t have went to the appointment in the first place. I saw a sign that said the contacts exam is not always covered by your insurance and to ask a staff member but I thought this was something they would have verbally told me. I was seen by Dr. Zimmerman who was okay but I felt like he was rushing through the exam. He was knowledgeable and helpful though, for the most part.
Another strange thing is having to pay $ 50 for «training» for your contacts. I have to go back there and pay them $ 50 to show me how to put them in and how to take care of them. Not saying this training isn’t important, but shouldn’t it be free? I just paid you $ 200 AND I ordered contacts from you. Give me a break! Not sure if the training is mandatory.
I had a good experience with the staff. They were friendly and took time to explain to me why I was being charged so much money (just wish they told me this beforehand). Although my experience was okay, I’m probably just going to order my contacts online from now on to avoid any more financial surprises!

I can be a pain in the ass to eye doctors because I am for whatever reason horrendously bad at the «Which looks better? 1? or 2?» test, to the point where past optometrists have actually broken down and screamed at me that «ARRRRRRGH 3 CAN’T look better than 4 if 2 is better than 1 like you said!» (At least I am much better at taking eye drops these days.) But Dr. Zimmerman is very patient, knowledgeable, and, if not quite crossing over to «friendly» territory, is courteous and professional. I started freaking out a little bit when he said I’d have to see a retina specialist to make sure they didn’t have any holes in them (no one ever likes to hear they might have holes in extremely delicate and important parts of our internal workings) but he quickly and calmly explained that it was just a cautionary measure. And while he did seem a bit quick to assume I’d want an entirely new pair of glasses just for an extremely slight change in prescription, he did then reassure me that it probably wasn’t necessary if I didn’t feel like spending the money (which I did not).
Unlike many of the other reviewers, I’ve never had a problem with the rest of the staff, save perhaps the middle-​aged lady who helps with frame selection. This is based purely on her responding with the phrase, «Honey, I’m an optician first» when I asked whether the frames she just put on my face looked any good. Uh, you’re an optician, great, but I’m pretty sure there are people out there who can help me choose glasses that let me see right AND don’t make my face look totally stupid.

I didn’t see the new weekend doctor and after reading Mog’s review, I’m glad I didn’t. After Dr. Weiss left, I made an appt with Dr. Fronhofer in November for my yearly checkup. She is very nice and a good doctor however… She was wearing shorts, fishnet tights, and what I can only describe as Julia Roberts-​style hooker boots during our appointment. And it was in November! Call me crazy, but I like my doctors to look professional when they’re treating me. They don’t have to be glamazons or wear a lab coat, but pants and some sort of blouse would do.
However, in her defense, I’ve only seen her the one time and maybe there was a really good reason for her outfit, so I still plan to go back. (Maybe she was about to leave for a costume party??)