Equity - Shares and Units (Details)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020 shares	May 16, 2019 shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
OP Unit, redemption term for cash	1 year
OP Unit, exchange ratio to common stock	1
Dividends on common stock received until performance criteria met for LTIP units (as a percent)	10.00%
Dividends on common stock received after performance criteria met for LTIP units (as a percent)	90.00%
Dividends on common stock received in periods after performance criteria met for LTIP units (as a percent)	100.00%
OP units outstanding (in shares)	297,676,225
Empire State Realty Trust
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
OP units owned by the Company (in shares)	177,128,009
Other Partners, Certain Directors, Officers And Other Members Of Executive Management
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
OP units not owned by the Company (in shares)	120,548,216
Empire State Realty OP \| Empire State Realty Trust
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
OP units owned by the Company (as a percent)	59.50%
Empire State Realty OP \| Other Partners, Certain Directors, Officers And Other Members Of Executive Management
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
OP units not owned by the Company (as a percent)	40.50%
2019 Plan
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares authorized under the plan (in shares)	11,000,000.0	11,000,000.0

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