City University of New York Law School Grads Heckle Eric Adams at Commencement Speech

Students graduating from the School of Law at the City University of New York on Friday turned their backs on and heckled Mayor Eric Adams.

The booing started as soon as the former police commissioner was introduced as the speaker at the Colden Auditorium at CUNY's Queens College.

The New York mayor's ugly reception erupted a day after CUNY students, staff and professors protested over millions of dollars in additional city budget cuts hitting the university system.

The city's Police Department has also come under fire from protesters for the delay in the arrest of former Marine Daniel Penny in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a city subway train earlier this month.

Students appeared particularly incensed when the former police commissioner boasted that he wore “a bulletproof vest and protected the children and family of this city” while working for 22 years for the Police Department.

When he declared he "knows what it takes to keep this city together," some shouted: "No you don't!"

Adams at one point appeared to attempt to align himself with the students, noting: “We have a lot of challenges, a lot of things that (need) discipline. And just as you see these graduates here, I know what it is to protest.”

But he also lectured them: “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.”

The students didn't appear to be detached.

Adams spokesman Fabien Levy told the New York Daily News that the mayor “respects the rights of the graduates who peacefully protested today just like he peacefully protested countless times throughout his career. ... The mayor looks forward to seeing how these graduates serve our city in the future.”

CUNY Comptroller Brad Lander has estimated city budget cuts would slash $155 million from the system's funds this year, resulting in the likely loss of 235 faculty and staff positions.