Fee and Other Income (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Fee And Other Income [Line Items]
BMS cleaning fees	$ 22,633vno_TenantCleaningFees	$ 18,956vno_TenantCleaningFees
Management and leasing fees	4,192vno_ManagementAndLeasingFees	5,828vno_ManagementAndLeasingFees
Lease termination fees	3,747vno_LeaseTerminationFees	3,577vno_LeaseTerminationFees
Other income	9,035us-gaap_OtherRealEstateRevenue	7,579us-gaap_OtherRealEstateRevenue
Fee and other income	39,607vno_FeeAndOtherIncome	35,940vno_FeeAndOtherIncome
Interstate Properties [Member]
Fee And Other Income [Line Items]
Management and leasing fees	$ 139	$ 134

Other real estate revenue not otherwise specified in the taxonomy.

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, 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

- Details

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