Mortgages and Other Loans Payable (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended						3 Months Ended																																					1 Months Ended				1 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 SL Green Operating Partnership	Mar. 31, 2013 Master repurchase	Dec. 31, 2012 Master repurchase	Mar. 31, 2013 220 East 42nd Street	Dec. 31, 2012 220 East 42nd Street	Mar. 31, 2013 609 Partners, LLC	Dec. 31, 2012 609 Partners, LLC	Mar. 31, 2013 609 Partners, LLC SL Green Operating Partnership Series E preferred units	Mar. 31, 2013 125 Park Avenue	Dec. 31, 2012 125 Park Avenue	Mar. 31, 2013 711 Third Avenue	Dec. 31, 2012 711 Third Avenue	Mar. 31, 2013 625 Madison Avenue	Dec. 31, 2012 625 Madison Avenue	Mar. 31, 2013 500 West Putnam	Dec. 31, 2012 500 West Putnam	Mar. 31, 2013 420 Lexington Avenue	Dec. 31, 2012 420 Lexington Avenue	Mar. 31, 2013 Landmark Square	Dec. 31, 2012 Landmark Square	Mar. 31, 2013 485 Lexington Avenue	Dec. 31, 2012 485 Lexington Avenue	Mar. 31, 2013 120 West 45th Street	Dec. 31, 2012 120 West 45th Street	Mar. 31, 2013 300 Main Street	Dec. 31, 2012 300 Main Street	Mar. 31, 2013 762 Madison Avenue	Dec. 31, 2012 762 Madison Avenue	Mar. 31, 2013 2 Herald Square	Dec. 31, 2012 2 Herald Square	Mar. 31, 2013 885 Third Avenue	Dec. 31, 2012 885 Third Avenue	Mar. 31, 2013 Other loan payable due in September, 2019	Dec. 31, 2012 Other loan payable due in September, 2019	Mar. 31, 2013 One Madison Avenue	Dec. 31, 2012 One Madison Avenue	Mar. 31, 2013 100 Church Street	Dec. 31, 2012 100 Church Street	Mar. 31, 2013 919 Third Avenue	Dec. 31, 2012 919 Third Avenue	Mar. 31, 2013 400 East 57th Street	Dec. 31, 2012 400 East 57th Street	Mar. 31, 2013 400 East 58th Street	Dec. 31, 2012 400 East 58th Street	Feb. 28, 2013 1515 Broadway	Apr. 30, 2012 1515 Broadway	Mar. 31, 2013 1515 Broadway	Dec. 31, 2012 1515 Broadway	Feb. 28, 2013 1515 Broadway Refinancing	Mar. 31, 2013 180 Maiden Lane	Dec. 31, 2012 180 Maiden Lane	Mar. 31, 2013 248-252 Bedford Avenue
Mortgages and Other Loans Payable
Interest rate, fixed rate debt (as a percent)						5.25%		5.00%			5.75%		4.99%		7.22%		5.52%		7.50%		4.00%		5.61%		6.12%		5.75%		3.75%		5.36%		6.26%		8.00%		5.91%		4.68%		5.12%		4.13%		4.13%				3.93%
Interest rate, floating rate debt (as a percent)				3.21%																																												3.60%				2.41%		2.46%
Total fixed rate debt	$ 4,349,406,000	$ 3,457,769,000				$ 184,698,000	$ 185,906,000	$ 23,000	$ 23,000		$ 146,250,000	$ 146,250,000	$ 120,000,000	$ 120,000,000	$ 124,481,000	$ 125,603,000	$ 23,930,000	$ 24,060,000	$ 184,612,000	$ 184,992,000	$ 84,097,000	$ 84,486,000	$ 450,000,000	$ 450,000,000	$ 170,000,000	$ 170,000,000	$ 11,500,000	$ 11,500,000	$ 8,331,000	$ 8,371,000	$ 191,250,000	$ 191,250,000	$ 267,650,000	$ 267,650,000	$ 50,000,000	$ 50,000,000	$ 602,584,000	$ 607,678,000	$ 230,000,000	$ 230,000,000	$ 500,000,000	$ 500,000,000	$ 70,000,000	$ 70,000,000	$ 30,000,000	$ 30,000,000			$ 900,000,000
Total floating rate debt	466,079,000	1,157,695,000		174,966,000	116,667,000																																													769,813,000		269,113,000	271,215,000	22,000,000
Total mortgages and other loans payable	4,815,485,000	4,615,464,000
Interest in property (as a percent)																																										51.00%
Repaid loan																																															775,000,000	447,200,000
Preferred Units, shares issued										63,900,000
Preferred Units (as a percent)										5.00%
Preferred Units, liquidation preference (in dollars per share)										$ 1.00
Preferred units, shares redeemed										63,800,000
Interest rate added to base rate (as a percent)			2.20%	3.00%																																												2.85%
Interest rate, description				1-month LIBOR																																												90-day LIBOR
Mortgage on properties assumed																																																			900,000,000
Refinanced mortgage loan																																																775,000,000			775,000,000
Gross book value of the properties and debt and preferred equity investments collateralizing the mortgages and other loans payable	7,800,000,000	7,600,000,000
Term																																																7 years			12 years
Interest rate (as a percent)																																															3.93%
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	18,513,000																																														18,500,000
Prepayment penalty																																															7,600,000
Repurchase of debt				$ 175,000,000
Extension option available				1 year