Characters of the Village

The Bernstein Boys of Westbeth

By Brian and Joy Pape

We would like to thank our readers who often suggest people who would be good subjects for Characters of the Village.
We met The Bernstein Boys at Hudson Hound Restaurant for our interview.

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Tell us about yourselves — what are your favorite things to do?
I’m Dewey Bernstein (D) and I’m 13 years old.
I’m Bruno Bernstein (B) and I’m 18 years old.

D: We like making movies together. We like to go to Hudson Hound with our family friends, the Gropper and Rogers family, on Friday evenings, and we go to Sofia’s Bagels on Sunday mornings. I personally prefer Murray’s. It’s kind of a chain, but… they always ask you if you want your bagel scooped out.
B: I like grocery shopping at D’Agostino’s where the people are nice. A shout out to the employees at D’Agostino’s ─ but work on the prices. Yeah.

Anything else that you’d like the community know about you?
B: We are part of a loving family. That’s nice.
D: We were born in Washington Heights, but we grew up at Westbeth mostly. We moved here in 2016 when I was three and Bruno was eight. My mom and dad are artists. They were on the Westbeth waiting list for a pretty long time, but we finally got in and it’s nice.
B: We have four pets.
D: Two dogs and two cats. One dog’s name is Lulu; she’s black and white. The other dog is Rupert (named after Rupert Pupkin, played by Robert De Niro, in the movie King of Comedy). One cat is named Clyde and our oldest cat is Mitchie. They all get along.
We like the neighborhood ─ all the parks and stores. West Village in the summer is one of the most beautiful times you could be here, but the winter is nice too.
B: I like the people in the neighborhood. They’re artists, too.

What do your parents do?
B: My dad, Peter Bernstein, is a jazz guitarist and my mom, Erin Quinn Purcell, is a playwright.

What schools do you go to?
B: My school is Henry Viscardi School on Long Island. Their specialty is helping kids with physical disabilities. I’m in the 12th grade. By bus, it takes 45 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes each way.
D: Lower Manhattan Community School is downtown, way downtown. I’m in seventh grade. I go by the One train with my buddy, Lou, from Christopher/Sheridan Square to Rector Street. It’s got better hot lunch than a lot of other public schools.
B: My school really doesn’t have great lunch.

What are your favorite things about school?
B: My favorite things are the people and reading. I like English because I’m reading books that I really enjoy, like, Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies and The Great Gatsby. As for friends, I can say I like all the kids in their own way.
D: My favorite subject is probably music class because I get to play the electric guitar. I only have an acoustic guitar at home, so that’s pretty cool. I also love art.

What is your least favorite thing about school?
D: Probably math, because it’s never been my thing, you know?
B: I don’t like that I’m tired from a long commute. Getting up at 5:45 a.m. ─ I’m like, ‘no, let me sleep!’

What was the pandemic like for you?
D: Well, it was kind of sad that you had to be at home all the time. I was going to PS 3 at the time. I liked PS 3 and I was missing it.
B: It was okay. I had a lot of fun staying inside. I watched a lot of great movies.

What is different now?
D: I like it a lot more because I get to go outside and to the park, specifically, Horatio Park. I’m waiting for Bleecker Park to reopen; they’re redoing it now.
B: I’m not on Zoom as much.

Tell us about your passions.
B: My passion is watching great movies. I’m so invested when I watch a movie. And I like painting.
D: Yeah, Bruno really likes to paint. We have some of his artwork on our walls. Me and Bruno both love movies. My passion is making films with Bruno. I like making horror movies, slasher movies, cop movies, all kinds of movies.
B: I want to write your first five movies.
D: You could totally, you’re a great writer, you’ve got good attention to detail, so with my camera instincts and your writing abilities, we could be an unstoppable duo, like Batman and Robin. My biggest dream is to go out west and shoot a big, epic, western movie in the desert with my friends, with nothing but a couple of cap guns and a camera, and a good compelling story.
B: I’d love to travel to far-off places, although it’s hard because there’s not much accessibility for people who use wheelchairs.

What is your best memory?
B: My best memory is Dewey as a baby. And the dogs.
D: My best memory is going to Bleecker Park as a young kid and drinking the crazy milkshakes at Black Tap that was on 14th Street. It is closed now but there is still one in SoHo.

What is your favorite accomplishment?
B: My greatest accomplishment is that I’ve had many surgeries and I’ve really come through with optimism. I have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, so some things are hard, but I am still happy.
D: I finished my latest screenplay that I’ve been working on for over three years; it’s called Hit Bot.

Parting words?
D: Just do what makes you happy. Go outside a lot. Listen to music. Live your life. And eat good food.
B: Eat bacon.
D: Unless you’re vegetarian, then you should eat vegetables.