UP IN ARMS

CUNY Law Grads Heckle and Turn Backs on NYC Mayor Eric Adams During Commencement Speech

Dramatic video showed the students standing up and turning to face away from the mayor while he spoke.

Graduates of the City University of New York School of Law on Friday defied NYC Mayor Eric Adams as he delivered their commencement address, standing up and turning their backs on him while heckling and booing his speech. His spiel about when he wore “a bullet proof vest and protected the children and family of this city” as an NYPD cop for 22 years seemingly spurred the most heat from the crowd, with several hecklers shouting “No you don’t!” as he claimed he knew “what it takes to hold this city together.” His speech, riddled with anti-protest sentiment, came down to one message seemingly aimed at his detractors in the room: “Instead of being a detached spectator in the full contact sport called life, get on the field and participate about improving the lives of the people of this city.” On Thursday, scores of CUNY students, professors, and staff protested the mayor’s millions of dollars worth of budget cuts to the CUNY system, which came after already slashing $155 million in funding to the colleges this year.