Mayor Adams was greeted with boos and turned backs during a CUNY Law School commencement address Friday — a day after City University students and professors protested against budget cuts laid out in the mayor’s most recent spending plan.
Friday’s public demonstration of ire against Adams, which was reminiscent of NYPD officers turning their backs on former Mayor Bill de Blasio, came as the current mayor was urging graduates to “get on the field and participate about improving the lives of the people of this city.”
As he spoke, boos could be heard echoing throughout the auditorium, with dozens of graduates turning their backs.
One person could be heard screaming the name Jordan, an apparent reference to Jordan Neely, a Black homeless man who was killed on the F train last week after a former Marine put him a chokehold. For days, Adams became a target of critics because he refrained from mentioning the name of the Marine, Daniel Penny, who is white, even though it took more than a week for Penny to be charged with second-degree manslaughter.
“We know we can move this city forward as we deal with the issues around immigration and issues around public safety,” Adams said during the commencement to more boos.
At least three dozens cap-and-gown clad students stood and turned their backs to Adams as he spoke at the ceremony, which took place late Friday morning inside the Colden Auditorium at Queens College.
The most drastic response came when Adams alluded to his time with the NYPD — he retired as a police captain there — with those assembled booing even more loudly when he made mention of being a cop.
“For 22 years of my life, I wore a bullet proof vest and protected the children and families of this city as a police officer. So I know what it is. I know what it takes to hold this city together,” he said, as the din nearly drowned out his words. “We have a lot of challenges, a lot of things that it needs discipline. And just as you see these graduates here, I know what it is to protest.”
Adams did manage to get some cheers, though.
“I’m the mayor because I know how to speak on behalf of the countless number of people in this city,” he said to applause.
A day earlier, CUNY students, professors and staff held a rally against city budget cuts that Comptroller Brad Lander estimated would total $155 million this year, resulting in the loss of 235 faculty and staff positions.
“That means a CUNY that cannot show up for its students,” Lander said on Thursday.
Adams has also been catching a lot of heat about how he’s reacting to the death of Neely. On Wednesday he said in a speech that Neely “did not deserve to die,” but has largely refrained from speaking about Penny. Until Thursday evening, when the Manhattan DA’s office confirmed it would be charging him, Adams had not mentioned his name once.