Lease Cancellation, Period of Notice

No definition available.

Name:	esrt_LeaseCancellationPeriodofNotice
Namespace Prefix:	esrt_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of Directors, General Partner in Investment Fund Owning More Than 10% Economic and Voting Interest in Tenant

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	esrt_NumberofDirectorsGeneralPartnerinInvestmentFundOwningMoreThan10EconomicandVotingInterestinTenant
Namespace Prefix:	esrt_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Related Party Transaction, Percentage of Leased Space Occupied

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	esrt_RelatedPartyTransactionPercentageofLeasedSpaceOccupied
Namespace Prefix:	esrt_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Revenue from Related Parties, Net of Payment for Allocable Pro Rata Leased Share

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	esrt_RevenuefromRelatedPartiesNetofPaymentforAllocableProRataLeasedShare
Namespace Prefix:	esrt_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Area of a real estate property.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AreaOfRealEstateProperty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:areaItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The number of real estate properties owned as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfRealEstateProperties
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of revenue, fees and commissions earned from transactions between (a) a parent company and its subsidiaries; (b) subsidiaries of a common parent; (c) an entity and trusts for the benefit of employees, for example, but not limited to, pension and profit-sharing trusts that are managed by or under the trusteeship of the entity's management; (d) an entity and its principal, owners, management, or members of their immediate families; and (e) affiliates.

+ 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=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 946
-SubTopic 225
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.6-07.1(c))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6488393&loc=d3e606610-122999

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=us-gaap_AffiliatedEntityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionAxis=esrt_SupervisoryFeeRevenueMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionAxis=esrt_PropertyManagementFeeRevenueMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionAxis=esrt_LeasedSpaceRentalMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionAxis=esrt_AnnualizedRentRevenueMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=us-gaap_UndividedInterestMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=esrt_BoardofDirectorsChairmanEmeritusMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Related Party Transactions - Narrative (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2016 ft² property	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) ft² director	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) ft² director	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2016 ft² property
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Area of real estate property (in square feet) \| ft²		10,100,000		10,100,000
Number of directors \| director		1		1
Affliliated entity \| Supervisory fee revenue
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Revenue from related parties		$ 300	$ 400	$ 600	$ 800
Affliliated entity \| Property management fee revenue
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Revenue from related parties		100	100	200	200
Affliliated entity \| Leased space rental
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Revenue from related parties			$ 50		100
Area of real estate property (in square feet) \| ft²						3,074
Number of properties \| property	1					1
Lease cancellation, notice period	90 days
Affliliated entity \| Annualized rent revenue
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Revenue from related parties				5,700	$ 5,700
Undivided Interest
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Area of real estate property (in square feet) \| ft²	5,351					647
Chairman emeritus \| Leased space rental
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Percentage of lease space occupied by Chairman emeritus and employee	15.00%
Revenue from revenue parties, net of payment for pro rata share of leased space		$ 100		$ 200