The story of 'Concrete Eddie'

David Crabiel, the longtime Middlesex County Freeholder who passed away earlier today, was the younger brother of J. Edward Crabiel, known as “Concrete Eddie,” who was one of the state’s most powerful political figures in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.  Edward Crabiel was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1973, and served as New Jersey Secretary of State until his indictment ended his political career.

The son of a former Milltown Councilman, Crabiel was the Mayor of Milltown from 1947 to 1951.  (David Crabiel served as a Milltown Councilman from 1960 to 1968, and as Mayor from 1968 to 1979.)  He was elected to the State Assembly in 1955 and served five terms before moving up to the State Senate in 1965 – after the U.S. Supreme Court’s one-man, one-vote decision caused Middlesex County to increase their number of Senators from one (John Lynch, the father of the future Senate President) to three.  He was re-elected to the Senate in 1967 and did not seek re-election in 1971.  He was the Senate Minority Leader in 1968.

When key Democratic county leaders picked Brendan Byrne, a Superior Court Judge and former Essex County Prosecutor, to be their candidate for Governor in 1973, Crabiel (and another gubernatorial candidate, State Sen. Richard Coffee of Mercer County) dropped out of the race a month before the primary and endorsed Byrne.  Byrne defeated State Sen. Ralph DeRose (D-Essex) and Assemblywoman Ann Klein (D-Morris) in the primary.

After Byrne won the general election, he appointed Crabiel to serve as Secretary of State – a position that historically had greater political influence up until the time of Byrne’s governorship. 

During his first year in Byrne’s cabinet, Crabiel was indicted by a state grand jury on charges that he conspired to control highway construction projects.  (The indictment was connected to his position as President of the Little Falls-based Franklin Contracting Company, which was one of the state’s largest highway contractors.) When Byrne, who came into office as a champion of ethics reform, suggested he resign, Crabiel told the Governor to keep his suggestions to himself.  Byrne later reduced the Secretary of State’s job to only those ceremonial duties required by law.  He eventually took an eight-month leave of absence as he fought the corruption charges.

In 1975, the indictment against Crabiel was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.  Byrne’s Attorney General, William Hyland, filed a civil suit to recover some of Crabiel’s profits.  Crabiel insisted he was innocent, but paid $135,000 to the state in an out of court settlement. (Crabiel and Hyland served together in the State Assembly.)

After his indictment was dismissed, Crabiel returned to his post as Secretary of State just long enough to qualify for his state pension.  Then he resigned.

 Byrne and Crabiel later patched things up, and after a few weeks after his re-election in 1977, the Governor appointed Crabiel as a Commissioner of the New Jersey Highway Authority.  He died in 1992 at age 75.