Nadler was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, the son of Miriam (Schreiber) and Emanuel "Max" Nadler.[3][4] Nadler described his father as a "dyed-in-the-wool Democrat" who lost his poultry farm in New Jersey when the younger Nadler was seven.[3] He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1965[6] (where his debate team partner was the future philosopher of science Alexander Rosenberg, and his successful campaign for student government president was managed by Dick Morris).[7]