Equity - Shares and Units (Details)	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 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)	290,822,574
Empire State Realty Trust
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
OP units owned by the Company (in shares)	173,346,579
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)	117,475,995
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)	59.60%
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)	40.40%
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