The huge loft Melody lived in seemed to be in Westbeth, the large artists only building in the West Village on Bethune Street.
I recognized the courtyard during the scene when she was talking to the guy she then rented it from.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/129622703_13ed53e36f.jpg
If anyone from Manhattan is interested, yes, this movie was filmed in Westbeth.
Upon watching it again earlier tonight, I got a huge laugh out of the the 'owner' telling Melody that he was selling the building! Too funny! No one, who is still renting such huge apartments in Westbeth, at way below market level rents, is going anywhere anytime soon!