Fee and Other Income (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Fee And Other Income [Line Items]
BMS cleaning fees	$ 85,658vno_TenantCleaningFees	$ 66,505vno_TenantCleaningFees	$ 67,584vno_TenantCleaningFees
Signage Revenue	37,929us-gaap_SignageRevenue	32,866us-gaap_SignageRevenue	20,892us-gaap_SignageRevenue
Management and leasing fees	21,382vno_ManagementAndLeasingFees	24,637vno_ManagementAndLeasingFees	21,849vno_ManagementAndLeasingFees
Lease termination fees	17,042vno_LeaseTerminationFees	92,497vno_LeaseTerminationFees	2,361vno_LeaseTerminationFees
Other income	33,734us-gaap_OtherRealEstateRevenue	34,113us-gaap_OtherRealEstateRevenue	31,438us-gaap_OtherRealEstateRevenue
Fee and other income	195,745vno_FeeAndOtherIncome	250,618vno_FeeAndOtherIncome	144,124vno_FeeAndOtherIncome
Stop & Shop [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Complaint Regarding Rent Allocation		6,000
Gain related to litigation settlement		59,599
New York 1290 Avenue Of Americas [Member]
Fee And Other Income [Line Items]
Lease termination fees		19,500
Write Off Of Straight Lining Of Rent		1,529
Equity method ownership percentage		70.00%
Cuyahoga County [Member]
Fee And Other Income [Line Items]
Lease termination fees		3,000
Vornado Realty Trust [Member] \| New York 1290 Avenue Of Americas [Member]
Fee And Other Income [Line Items]
Lease termination fees		$ 12,121

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 323

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-Subparagraph (a)(1)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6382943&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of gain (loss) recognized in settlement of litigation and insurance claims. Excludes claims within an insurance entity's normal claims settlement process.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14326-108349

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GainLossRelatedToLitigationSettlement
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Other real estate revenue not otherwise specified in the taxonomy.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 225

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1(e))

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26872669&loc=d3e20235-122688

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OtherRealEstateRevenue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Revenue from renting space for public and private signs (for example, advertising on taxies, buses, subways and billboards).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 225

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1(c))

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26872669&loc=d3e20235-122688

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SignageRevenue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Stop & Shop complaint regarding rent allocated to East Brunswick, Jersey City, Middletown, Union, and Woodbridge leases

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vno_ComplaintRegardingRentAllocation
Namespace Prefix:	vno_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Revenue, comprised of base and incentive revenue derived from the management of joint ventures, managing third-party properties, or another entity's operations, and other real estate revenue not otherwise specified in the taxonomy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vno_FeeAndOtherIncome
Namespace Prefix:	vno_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	vno_FeeAndOtherIncomeLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	vno_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This item represents the revenue received due to early termination of leases.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vno_LeaseTerminationFees
Namespace Prefix:	vno_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This item represents the revenue earned from the management of joint ventures, managing third-party properties, or another entity's operations and revenues earned from leasing space for third-party properties.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vno_ManagementAndLeasingFees
Namespace Prefix:	vno_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This item represents the fees earned from providing cleaning services to the tenants.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vno_TenantCleaningFees
Namespace Prefix:	vno_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Write Off Of Straight Lining Of Rent

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vno_WriteOffOfStraightLiningOfRent
Namespace Prefix:	vno_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=vno_VornadoRealtyTrustMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis=vno_StopShopMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RealEstateAndAccumulatedDepreciationDescriptionOfPropertyAxis=vno_CuyahogaCountyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RealEstateAndAccumulatedDepreciationDescriptionOfPropertyAxis=vno_NewYork1290AvenueOfAmericasMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: