Crj captain reported a wake vortex encounter that resulted in an altitude deviation.

Attributes
ACN	1682261
Time
Date	201909
Place
Locale Reference	JFK.Airport
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Undershoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter

Narrative:

During approach clearance; ATC cleared us for the ILS 4R; maintain 1;500 ft. Until established; which I read back. We bugged 1;500 ft.; but we stayed at 2;000 ft. ATC called us about 60 seconds later and said we needed to descend to 1;500 ft.we were distracted by a wake turbulence encounter when cleared for the approach. Even though I read it back; in my mind I assumed it was at or above instead of the maintain clearance; so I didn't say anything to the first officer who was the pilot flying.make sure the clearance is fully understood; even if we need to query ATC.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ Captain reported a wake vortex encounter that resulted in an altitude deviation.

Narrative: During approach clearance; ATC cleared us for the ILS 4R; maintain 1;500 ft. until established; which I read back. We bugged 1;500 ft.; but we stayed at 2;000 ft. ATC called us about 60 seconds later and said we needed to descend to 1;500 ft.We were distracted by a wake turbulence encounter when cleared for the approach. Even though I read it back; in my mind I assumed it was at or above instead of the maintain clearance; so I didn't say anything to the First Officer who was the Pilot Flying.Make sure the clearance is fully understood; even if we need to query ATC.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.