Former Hoboken Fire Chief Brian Crimmins returns to work at lowest rank

5

Former Hoboken Fire Chief Brian Crimmins returned to work as the lowest rank possible today after being on administrative leave for just under two years.

Former Hoboken Fire Chief Brian Crimmins. Facebook photo.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“Be advised, until further notice, Firefighter Brian Crimmins will return to day staff commencing Monday, April 3, 2023,” a Friday memo from Acting Fire Chief Anton Peskens to the department says.

City spokeswoman Marilyn Baer said that the city does not comment on personnel matters in reply to an inquiry asking how Crimmins was brought back without his seniority.

“I have an outstanding reputation for honest and intelligent leadership, my commitment to the Hoboken Fire Department is unparalleled. The city’s charges against me are false and entirely political in nature. I look forward to setting the record straight in the near future,” Crimmins said this evening.

Part of the department since November 1st, 2004, he was placed on paid leave back on May 18th, 2021, the same day Peskens was named acting chief, as HCV first reported. The city did not explain the circumstances back then, either.

At the time, sources with knowledge of the situation, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, called the matter “unprecedented” and said they would be shocked if it didn’t result in litigation, but no one divulged any details beyond calling the situation “internal strife between Crimmins and other ranking members of the department.”

As of this writing, Crimmins had not filed a tort claim or lawsuit against the city.

Peskens was named the provisional fire chief in June 2015, a role that Crimmins assumed in November 2017 before being sworn in as chief in October 2018.

In February, Rev. Dr. Elaine Ellis Thomas of the All Saints Episcopal Church wrote a letter to Mayor Ravi Bhalla and the city council asking for Crimmins – a member of the parish – to be reinstated.

Warning: A non-numeric value encountered in /home/hcvcp/public_html/wp-content/themes/Hudson County View/includes/wp_booster/td_block.php on line 353

5 COMMENTS

  1. Wow! How much is Team Bhalla going to cost taxpayers this time?

    Also, someone should look into those racist fliers back in 2017.

    #satishpoondi #makeedisongreatagain #maheshbhagia #samestorytelling
    #ajaypatil

  2. “Outstanding reputation?”

    All people have heard from the firefighters he “led” was that he was liar and he put people in danger…

    Glad the guy didn’t lose his job altogether, his family doesn’t deserve to suffer because of his professional failures, but there is no way he can be in a leadership role with the city.

LEAVE A REPLY