ASBURY PARK PRESS :: MONMOUTH EDITION APP.COM $2.00

With the birthplace of American liberty as a backdrop, Pope

Francis offered an impassioned defense of religious liberty

Saturday and encouraged immigrants struggling to build a

new life for themselves in the U.S. not to lose hope. ♦ “Do not be

discouraged by whatever challenges and hardships you face,”

said the Argentine pontiff, the son of Italian immigrants. ♦ “I ask you not to forget

that, like those who came here before you, you bring many gifts to your new nation.” ♦

The late afternoon event, coming at the tail end of a busy first day in this city, was rich

in symbolism. ♦ After a brief private tour of Independence Hall, whose brick and

mortar is still shot through with the revolutionary spirit of Franklin, Adams and Jef-

ferson, Francis emerged from the old building to the stirring trumpet blasts of

PHOTOS BY TOM SPADER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Pope Francis arrives at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia on Saturday. Below, a man finds a unique spot to see the pope. See photo galleries and more at APP.com.

Pope shares message of hope SHANNON MULLEN @MULLENAPP

See POPE, Page 8A

Inside

The mall infront ofIndepend-ence Hallwas overfill-ing withbrotherlylove.Story, 8AA full pageof imagesfrom thepope’s day inPhiladelphia.Page 17APope bringsencourage-ment toimmigrants,Latinos.Story, 1B

LONG BRANCH A suspicious fire that torched a va-cant building here last weekend served as a jarring re-minder of the ills facing the lower Broadway corridor,which has been anathema to new business and invest-ment.

Many of the structures on this swath of LongBranch’s historic main street are shuttered and rottinginto oblivion. In one building, tagged by the city as anunsafe, the roof has collapsed and vegetation climbsthe walls.

“It needs to be redeveloped,” said Dimas Montalvo,proprietor of Montalvo’s Barber Stylist Salon, one ofonly a few businesses that remain open and are weath-

ering the malaise.Lower Broadway was once a center of activity, in-

cluding a Paramount Theater and thriving businesses,the identities of some still are able to discerned fromcrumbling building facades. As with so many economichubs in Shore communities, the lower Broadway corri-dor never recovered from the advent of highways andthe trails they blazed to sprawling malls.

But unlike the nearby towns of Red Bank and AsburyPark, which have made large gains in resurrectingtheir downtowns, sometimes storefront by storefront,Long Branch has been unable to turn this stubborn cor-ner.

More trouble for Long Branch plans DAN RADEL @DANIELRADELAPP

See PLANS, Page 13ADAN RADEL/STAFF PHOTO

Shuttered buildings in Long Branch's lower Broadway area.

09.27.15

VOLUME 136

NUMBER 231

SINCE 1879

@ISSUE 1AABUSINESS 6AACLASSIFIED 1DLOCAL 3ALOTTERIES 2A

OBITUARIES 14AOPINION 4AASPORTS 1CSUNDAY BEST 1EWEATHER 16C

ONLY ON NEWSSTANDS: UP TO $1,073 IN COUPON SAVINGS INSIDE

The Mets are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2006after clinching their sixth NL East title on Saturday. STORY, 11C

High school football

Complete coverage in SPORTS and at football.app.com

Mets clinchdivision title