PEEP THIS DOCTOR’S DISPLAYS
Eye-popping office
This eye doctor’s office is a must-see!
You may need your peepers checked after stepping into the wacky waiting room of New Jersey ophthalmologist Mark Leitman.
The hippy-dippy doctor’s East Brunswick work digs (above) resemble a funhouse-Mardi Gras mashup, resplendent with clowns, collectibles, crystals, mannequins and other items that catch his eye.
Leitman, 76, doesn’t worry if outsiders find his optics an eyesore.
“If you’re not living on the edge you’re taking up too much space,” he quipped to The Post.
The self-described collector, originally from Laurelton, Queens, is the creative curator of jam-packed space. “It’s everything I’ve loved over 50 years!” he exclaimed. “I am never unhappy!”
For decades, Leitman has added a trinket here or a mineral there from his travels to stores and adventures abroad. It all started with a crystal rock from Colombia that he admired and brought to work.
“As a child I did coin collecting. But the color of the rocks really amazed me. And I have every colorful rock. Then, I moved onto shells and then I moved onto colorful feathers. I went to all the zoos. I donated to zoos and they let me go in the cage and get the feathers. If I see a bird store, I’ll ask, ‘Can I have that feather?’ ” he said.
The doc also digs sulfur crystals he obtained from the top of a volcano on the island of Dominica in the eastern Caribbean Sea, noting “It’s always something different.”
His office floor, ceiling and walls are etched with maxims like, “Happiness is treasure hunting” and “Unapologetically Bohemian.”
“You know who gets it? Collectors,” Leitman said. “This is not a free ride. It takes a lot of effort!”
The zany office belies Leitman’s bonafides: He completed ophthalmic training at Albert Einstein Medical School, where he was chief resident, and authored a book on eye examination and diagnosis while in med school that is now in its 10th edition and translated into nine languages.
“Dr. Leitman calls it a jewelry box of everything. It’s just a fun house, a fun place,” gushed his receptionist for 25 years, Terry Hadzimichalis.
“He’s one of a kind,” said Joann Anderson, the doctor’s tech and billing person. “He has a great imagination. He likes colorful things.”
First-time patients have been known to walk in the front door and reverse right back out. “They walk out, then call us and ask, ‘Where are you?’ ” she laughed.