Vornado Capital Partners Real Estate Fund (the "Fund") (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended																		2 Months Ended		0 Months Ended							0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Feb. 28, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011 Operating Income [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Operating Income [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Operating Income [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Realized Gain [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Realized Gain [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Realized Gain [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Unrealized Gain From Mark To Market [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Unrealized Gain From Mark To Market [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Unrealized Gain From Mark To Market [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Real Estate Fund [Member] Y	Dec. 31, 2010 Real Estate Fund [Member]	Dec. 29, 2011 Real Estate Fund [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Vornado Realty Trust [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 Vornado Realty Trust [Member]	Mar. 01, 2011 One Park Avenue [Member] Vornado Realty Trust Excluding Real Estate Fund [Member]	Mar. 01, 2011 One Park Avenue [Member] Real Estate Fund [Member]	Mar. 01, 2011 One Park Avenue [Member] Real Estate Fund Joint Venture [Member]	Mar. 01, 2011 One Park Avenue [Member] Vornado Realty Trust Real Estate Fund Real Estate Fund Joint Venture [Member]	Mar. 01, 2011 One Park Avenue [Member] Office Building [Member] Real Estate Fund [Member] sqft	Dec. 16, 2011 Crowne Plaza [Member] Real Estate Fund [Member]	Dec. 16, 2011 Crowne Plaza [Member] Other Partners [Member]	Dec. 16, 2011 Crowne Plaza [Member] Retail Units [Member] Real Estate Fund [Member] sqft	Dec. 16, 2011 Crowne Plaza [Member] Office Building [Member] Real Estate Fund [Member] sqft	Dec. 16, 2011 Crowne Plaza [Member] Hotel [Member]	Dec. 16, 2011 Crowne Plaza [Member] Parking Garage [Member]	Dec. 29, 2011 Property 11th East 68th Street [Member] Real Estate Fund [Member]	Dec. 29, 2011 Property 11th East 68th Street [Member] Retail Units [Member]	Dec. 29, 2011 Property 11th East 68th Street [Member] Retail Units [Member] Real Estate Fund [Member] sqft
Capital Commitments For Real Estate Fund				$ 800,000,000														$ 200,000,000
Term of the Fund, years														8
Investment period for commitments of the Fund, years														3
Number Of Investments Made By Fund	3
Number Of Investments Exited By The Fund	2
Number Of Investments Held By The Fund	5
Unfunded Commitments Of Fund														416,600,000			104,150,000
Real Estate Fund Nondepreciable Real Estate	346,650,000	144,423,000
Proceeds From Partnership Contribution																									22,000,000
Real Estate Fund Investment Details [Abstract]
Amount Payable To Joint Venture For Investment																														29,300,000
Mezzanine Loan Provided To Partners																														21,000,000
Mezzanine Loan Provided To Partners Initial Term																														3 years
Mezzanine Loan Provided To Partners Extention Term																														1 year
Square Footage Of Real Estate Property																							932,000			14,000	212,000					5,000
Number of Units in Real Estate Property																												795	159		2
Business Acquisition Cost Of Acquired Entity Purchase Price														248,500,000						374,000,000										50,500,000
Business Acquisition Cost Of Acquired Entity Cash Paid																				137,000,000				31,000,000						21,200,000
Business Acquisition Cost Of Acquired Entity Liabilities Incurred																				250,000,000
Equity method ownership percentage																38.00%			30.30%		64.70%	95.00%
Debt Instruments Interest Rate At Period End	5.00%																													15.00%
Mezzanine loans receivable, net	133,948,000	202,412,000																						34,000,000
Notes And Loans Payable	8,558,275,000	8,255,101,000																						259,000,000
Details Of Income From Vornado Capital Partners Lp And Vornado Capital Partners Parallel Lp [Abstract]
Income from Real Estate Fund	22,886,000	(303,000)	0		5,500,000	(303,000)	0	5,391,000	0	0	11,995,000	0	0
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests in consolidated subsidiaries	21,786,000	4,920,000	(2,839,000)											13,598,000	(806,000)
Income From Real Estate Fund Attributable To Parent Company	9,288,000	503,000	0
Fee and Other Income	$ 150,354,000	$ 147,358,000	$ 155,326,000											$ 2,695,000	$ 248,000