Document and Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Oct. 29, 2014 Common stock Class A	Oct. 29, 2014 Common stock Class B
Entity Registrant Name	FOREST CITY ENTERPRISES INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000038067
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2014
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2014
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		181,757,129	19,216,218