A downtown redevelopment project that has been envisioned for Long Branch for just over two decades and has faced numerous hurdles – including the COVID-19 pandemic – finally broke ground Wednesday. Kushner, a real estate development and management firm headquartered in New York City, began work on the $130 million mixed use residential and retail development in the city’s Lower Broadway redevelopment zone, officials said. “This has been a long time coming,” said New Jersey Senator Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony along with Kushner officials and local Long Branc…