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