Tribeca Pediatrics

What a relief it was to switch my daughter over to Tribeca Pediatrics. We are thrilled with Dr. Alla Blank’s care and couldn’t be happier.
When my daughter was born, we went with a different practice based on the recommendation of a friend. I don’t want to name names, but they are affiliated with a local healthcare network. The initial visits were ok, but then our chosen pediatrician left, and we had a variety of problems from not being able to contact a doctor to having our visits repeatedly rescheduled. We finally did what we should have done from the start, and went to Tribeca. It would have saved us so much hassle.
Doctor Blank is incredibly thorough. She found a bit of asymmetry in my daughter’s hips and recommended us to a specialist. She asks us questions about developmental milestones and listens to all of our first time parent questions. She is exceptionally patient and kind, and my daughter didn’t even cry with her first shot at her last visit. Every appointment is wonderful, even when we’re visiting with a sick baby.
The office staff has been so helpful in everything from rescheduling appointments to providing paperwork for daycare/​other doctors. When we call with questions, big or small, someone gets back to us quickly with a thorough explanation/​answer. I just can’t say enough good things. I wish I felt this way about my own doctors!
When it comes down to it, I feel like everyone there genuinely cares about the health and wellbeing of my daughter. As a first time parent, I’m sure I’m overly concerned about certain things, but you cant be too careful in my opinion, and I feel like Doctor Blank is invested in helping me and my husband raise a happy, healthy child.

Wonderful, through and through.
From the park-​adjacent location to the practice’s sleep training philosophy, TriBeCa Pediatrics remains something of a gold standard for our three children. Founded by Dr. Michel Cohen, the practice adheres to a relatively laissez-​faire approach that helps maximize health, comfort and peace of mind when it comes to parents an children. His excellent book, titled «The New Basics,» offers a wealth of information in an easy-​to-​read format and is one volume we still regularly refer to when it comes to our kids. Especially helpful is the section in certain entries that explains when to worry and when not to worry.
The staff at the Jersey City location is kind, responsive and patient, things we appreciate in a pediatrician. The ice cream shop next door, the toy store next to that and the multiple playgrounds in the park across the street are icing on the cake.
Keep up the great work!

I was looking to book an appointment for my newborn in this location but I just gave up because of the terrible customer service when calling the office. Very impersonal and rude. I am sure the doctors are great since I have a couple of friends who take their kids there, but they need to train their front staff better.

I wish I could give a 0 star to this medical office. I have never seen a more unprofressional medical practice like this one. Here’s my story.
We were expecting a baby at the end of January, and so found this pediatrician in October, went to their open house, pre-​registered on their website with all our information. We were told to call after the baby is born in order to be seen for a first visit. And so, once the baby was born we called and this is what they say to me – «We are not accepting new patients at the moment. You can book at appointment for March, which is when we will see new patients. «
REALLY? This is exactly what I want to hear as a brand new mom, who went through a difficult labor and delivery, and whose 3 day old newborn has jaundice and high bilirubin levels and was advised by the hospital pediatrician to go see your own pediatrician ASAP after being discharged from the hospital. To hear this on a day when a blizzard is expected over the next few days. You expect me to a find an appointment with a new pediatrician the same day?
Why ask for people to pre-​register? The least you could do is give a courtesy call/​email those pre-​registered to let them know the day you decide to stop seeing new patients. HOW DIFFICULT IS THAT since you’re such a high tech office? Clearly impossible since you didn’t have the decency to let us know.
I cannot believe you would behave like this considering you work with anxious new parents and children. Beyond disappointed, would not recommend this office to any new parents.

Worst customer service ever. They won’t receive you if your baby is sick and won’t give you any alternative.
I guess it is just Ok if your baby is fine and just go there for vaccines and regular check up. However don’t ask for much. After they vaccine your baby, they will tell you that your baby has to take tylenol if needed. However, they won’t tell you the dose and if you ask, they will just tell you to take a look at their website.
The persons at reception are very rude and absolutely not nice.
I would never recommend to go there. And I definitely recommend not to go there if you want a personal relationship with your doctor. Actually i am looking for another doctor.

OK, time to do some internet justice. This office deserves way more than 3.5 stars. We’ve been coming here for well visits for our baby who’s currently 6.5 months old and we see Dr Kero.
First of all — and most importantly — the doctor spends a lot of time with our son at every visit. She actually does a complete physical: stethoscope for heart/​lungs, checks eyes, checks ears, checks mouth, checks the head, muscle tone, development, reflexes, skin, belly, hips and legs, etc. Anything you can think of. What’s the big deal, you ask? Well, at some point we considered switching doctors because a (highly rated) office opened up in our apartment building. Can’t beat the convenience. But the doctor there spent literally 10 seconds looking at our son and another 15 seconds talking some nonsense about feeding solids at 4 months if the baby is gaining «too much weight» being exclusively breastfed. Then he left. So when we recently found out he had missed a serious problem with our friends’ baby, we weren’t surprised at all. Needless to say, after that one visit we went back to Dr Kero and never looked back.
In addition to being incredibly thorough in her examinations, she personally keeps track of all the test results our baby has had. When results are late being forwarded to the office, she always stays on top of it.
If that weren’t enough, Dr Kero has a great bedside manner as well. She is warm, witty, professional. She is also the one doing the vaccinations, which she is really good at. Our baby stops crying literally seconds after the shots. (Which was not at all the case at *the other office*.)
Now, I can’t speak to how supportive they are of breastfeeding because luckily I haven’t really needed any support. The doctor was definitely happy when she heard I was EBF-​ing, and she didn’t push either early solids or formula. Also, I find it telling that I’ve never seen a single formula sample at the entire office. Not a single one. Whereas, you guessed it, whenever I pass by *that other office* in my building, Similac samples is all I see in the windows.
The rest of the staff at Tribeca is very professional and friendly as well. Out of all of our appointments, they were running late only once, during the winter holiday season. Other than that, we are always seen within *5* minutes of coming in.
Now, Michel Cohen, who is the head this chain of practices, does have some views I don’t agree with (ahem, CIO, ahem), but I just ignore those. On the other hand, he is a proponent of not over-​medicalizing, which is a rare and admirable attitude these days. (We’ve seen this in action when our baby suffered from what we thought was reflux. No drugs were pushed and the doctor just made sure the baby was growing and developing normally despite some discomfort.)
What I need from a pediatrician is to be able to check if my baby is developing properly and to spot and diagnose any problems as early as possible. Given that Dr Kero is so thorough and caring, I trust she is the best possible person for the job.

After a difficult labor and delivery transitioning Bump to Baby D, the last thing I wanted after 5 days (!) in the hospital was to visit another doctor’s office. But alas, per protocol we took Baby D to Tribeca Pediatrics the day after we were discharged from the hospital.
First off, Bald One and I were exhausted. Baby D was exhausted and cranky. And we were worried that Baby D wasn’t eating that well.
We were pleasantly surprised to have absolutely NO wait for our Friday afternoon appointment (this has since happened 3 times so it’s not a fluke) despite Tribeca being one of the more popular ped offices for the burgeoning stroller set in downtown JC. Our nurse practitioner, Leslie, was great with Baby D and immediately set her at ease. She didn’t cry at all — much to our surprise — because she was wailing and howling at home. Her appointment went well and all our subsequent ones have been terrific. Even her 2 month vaccines were a cinch… I think I was more upset than Baby D was! Sigh… hormones…
One note of caution is that they keep their offices blisteringly warm. I felt like I had a fever until I realized it’s the temperature of the office. But the result is a cozy, womb-​like environment that immediately puts newborns at ease.

I wanted to exclusively feed and I was disappointed with Dr’s recommendations. My baby initially had difficulty with weight gain and reached birth weight at one month instead of 2 weeks. Instead of recommending a lactation consultant, she advised supplementing with formula or olive oil. We found out later through a LC visit that my baby had a posterior tongue tie which contributed to her slow weight gain. This was at five weeks! After the procedure she fed wonderfully. But my baby also saw a Chiro and Craniosacral to encourage a proper latch to retrain her muscles after having used them for 6 weeks.
Wish this was caught earlier to avoid this challenging start. I would recommend new moms to look into a pediatrician’s support of breastfeeding. I did not feel that I had this support here.

My son was a patient at the Warren Street location, but I have a newborn now and was ecstatic to find that the Tribeca Peds Jersey City just opened. The space is absolutely beautiful and Dr. Symms is fantastic. She had an incredibly busy day and still managed to make me feel like my boys were her top priority. I love this practice and love the new office.