Doctors in attendance as well as the mayor's security detail examined Rep. Jerry Nadler and a "code blue" emergency was issued for the gym at PS 199, a public school on Manhattan's Upper West Side. | Patrick Semansky/AP Photo Nadler appears to lose consciousness during press conference

NEW YORK CITY — Rep. Jerry Nadler fell ill during a press conference in Manhattan today and was briefly unresponsive before regaining consciousness.

As Mayor Bill de Blasio was taking questions from reporters, he noticed Nadler (D-N.Y.) was unresponsive and offered him his water bottle. .


"You look dehydrated," the mayor said, urging Nadler to drink.

Doctors in attendance as well as the mayor's security detail examined Nadler and a "code blue" emergency was issued for the gym at PS 199, a public school on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

When Nadler regained consciousness, he was given water and an orange. At roughly 12:45 p.m. he was taken in an ambulance to Lenox Hill hospital.

De Blasio briefed reporters after the incident and said within minutes it appeared Nadler had recovered.

"He’s doing much much better. He started to talk with everyone, joke around. Answered a whole bunch of medical questions," the mayor said.

The mayor, who was seated next to Nadler on the dais, recounted the incident.

"I heard someone say Jerry’s name in a way that sounded distressed so I turned to him, and it just looked like he was taking a little nap for a moment. I put my hand on his shoulder and I said, ‘Jerry, are you OK?’" de Blasio said "He started to respond slowly but it wasn’t his normal self, obviously. And the medical personnel immediately jumped in."

De Blasio and a doctor on the scene declined to speculate about what brought on the incident, but said as soon as he was given water and juice, Nadler appeared to rally.

"After just a few minutes you could see him just fully come back to his energetic self," the mayor said.

Nadler, 71, has represented his Manhattan district since 1992 and currently serves as chair of the House Judicary Committee. He has been leading a charge in Washington to probe further into the Mueller report examining President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.