Description of Business and Organization - Narrative (Details) ft² in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021 ft² office_property parcel multifamily_property property_unit entity
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Area of real estate property (in sqft)	10.1
Number of entities to be treated as taxable REIT subsidiary | entity	2
Empire state realty trust | Empire state realty OP
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
OP units owned by the company (as a percent)	60.50%
Office building
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Area of real estate property (in sqft)	9.4
Number of offices and properties | office_property	14
Office building | Manhattan
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Area of real estate property (in sqft)	7.6
Number of offices and properties | office_property	9
Office building | Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Area of real estate property (in sqft)	1.8
Number of offices and properties | office_property	5
Long-term ground leasehold interests
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of offices and properties | parcel	3
Retail site | Manhattan and Westport, Connecticut
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Area of real estate property (in sqft)	0.2
Retail site | Manhattan
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Area of real estate property (in sqft)	0.5
Number of offices and properties | office_property	4
Retail site | Westport, Connecticut
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of offices and properties | office_property	2
Other property | Stamford, Connecticut
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Area of real estate property (in sqft)	0.4
Multifamily
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of offices and properties | multifamily_property	2
Number of property units | property_unit	625