Inside a City Island resident’s quest to achieve the American Dream

Roberto Soto

Photo courtesy Roberto Soto

For City Island resident Roberto Soto, there was never a question about what he wanted to pursue in his life — and he didn’t wait to start chasing it.

Soto, whose mother was a teacher and father was an architect and lawyer, was born in Cuba before the family relocated to the United States when he was only in grammar school. From there, they rebuilt their lives in Florida, where Soto grew up.

“[Fidel] Castro was the impetus for us leaving Cuba, leaving all our worldly belongings behind – our house, our money, all that stuff – and we got to the United States penniless and started all over again,” Soto told the Bronx Times.

From that point on, he found his passion on and behind the screen, beginning with the story of the famous 1950s sitcom, “I Love Lucy,” a show that depicted a Cuban American man married with a happy family in the States inspired Soto.

“When I saw that program, I looked at my mom and I said, ‘Ma, I want to get into television,’” said Soto. “This is the American Dream.”

Then 11-year-old Soto honed in on his life’s work when he stumbled upon Walter Cronkite on CBS. He knew, even from that young age, that he wanted to work in news and communication.

Soto earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in speech communication at Florida International University and later went on to earn his master’s degree in communication arts at William Paterson University.

But Soto didn’t wait until after college to get time in the newsroom. He worked at the Washington Post as an intern for three months before being offered the opportunity to anchor the Spanish language news and public affairs show of the Post’s Miami-based Channel 10.

After his time with the Post, Soto went on to join AFTRA before moving from Miami to New York, where he joined NABET and began working with NBC, where he stayed for almost 10 years.

Following his time with NBC, he had a successful career at…