What is the best neighborhood for buying a studio for pied a terre purposes. It should be livable, not too small. Maybe a pre-war. Which neighbourhood would have the richest source of studios. Not village or downtown. Anything above 35th street? Should be easily accessible to East 50's. I am from London so while familiar not overly so.

I bought for just that in Murray Hill mid 30s & Lex. Great accessability to all lots of restaurants services etc. in the neighborhood. Got 500 sf in a good 50s doorman building renovated for $330K. There are some college kids in the neighborhood weekend nights but has never been an issue. Working out very well so far.

Try doing a search on here for Midtown East.

redsea -

1. As a foreign buyer, you'll want to consider condos, not co-ops, for a good number of reasons. This will limit your search significantly, especially if you're considering pre-war.

2. When you say "easily accessible," do you mean by train or foot? The Upper East Side has a significant number of studios and if you purchase near the Lexington Ave corridor, you'll be able to take the 4/5/6 line south to the 50s.

3. Murray Hill is a bargain, however, it can feel a bit "fraternal" as it's a hot-spot for the recently matriculated. I don't know if you'll appreciate all of the after-hours goings on while you're vacationing with your family.

On your next visit to New York, block out some time and walk these neighborhoods a few times each, at different times of the day. You'll get a feel for each and see what suits you best. In the meantime, limit your StreetEasy search to condo studios on the East Side and see what you find.

your search should look something like this:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sales/nyc/status:open%7Ctype:D1%7Carea:121,120,123,130,131,132,134,139%7Cbeds%3C1

I recommend the Midtown East/Sutton Place area. A lot of larger studios in elevator/doorman bldgs.
Many of the post war buildings are worth a look. Usually good services and air conditioning.
A lot of good restaurants opening.

See
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/31644-best-nabe-for-empty-nest-couple-in-early-50s

> recommend the Midtown East/Sutton Place area.

While I agree that there are plenty of large studios and smaller 1BRs in those areas, 95% (heck, 98%!) of them are coops there and they won't allow buyers (foreign, no less!) to used their units as pied-à-terre. This buyer should be looking at condos.

Also, most prewar bldgs. are coops, and I am not really sure how many of them would be liberal enough to accept foreign buyers who don't intend to use the unit as his/her primary residence...

I'd perhaps suggest newer conversion condos--like 20 Pine in FiDi...where historical bldgs. have been converted to condo residences. Personally, I would NEVER consider buying at 20 Pine, but European buyers appear to be highly impressed with that bldg. So, I have a feeling that OP might love it there...