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New York City has an excess of everything, and it’s all packed in so close together that it’s impossible to walk a few blocks without tripping over an establishment worth a second look-see. So this Mother’s Day, which falls on the 11^th of May, here’s a guide to help you enjoy a classy and fun filled Mother’s Day in NYC.

Listed below are the best Mother’s Day activities in NYC - Where to go for brunches and teas, spa specials, cruises, music, shows and concerts, nature exploration tours, upscale shopping, flea market shopping, food shopping and best of all - Discounts, freebies, flowers, chocolates - which you get only if you’re a Mom.

Let’s start with a list of the best NYC restaurants offering a special Mother’s Day Sunday brunch.

Palm Court Restaurant, Plaza Hotel: The first on the list, and probably the only one you need to know about, is the historic Palm Court restaurant at the Plaza Hotel, with its stained glass windows, traditional afternoon tea and genteel service. The newly renovated and reopened Plaza has always been the center of gravity for the Grande Dame social circuit in the Big Apple.Every socially conscious Mom in NYC wants nothing better than to dress up and spend a few hours sizing up the other Moms in attendance. The brunch and afternoon tea is just something that the Palm Court offers as a reason for a gaggle of Moms to congregate. The experience, as a whole, is unforgettable, and there’s nothing better or more special that you can do for Mother’s Day, than foot the bill for brunch and tea at the Palm Court for your Mother.

Info: Saturday and Sunday brunch - 11.30 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. Suggested brunch items: Appetizer - Maine Lobster Bisque with potato cannelloni and tarragon whipped cream ($24); Breakfast Plate - The Plaza Eggs Benedict with applewood smoked back bacon with hollandaise sauce on toasted muffin, golden roasted potatoes and organic field greens ($30); Brunch Main course - Boneless Duck Leg in Pastilla with Jerusalem artichoke and haricot vert salad with toasted marcona almonds ($34). Location: Fifth Avenue at Central Park South, NYC, New York 10119; (212) 759-3000; email - theplaza@fairmont.com; Web: www.fairmont.com/theplaza If the Plaza does not appeal to you, here’s a list of restaurants in NYC offering Mother’s Day brunches:

Dell’ Anima - 38 8th Ave New York, NY 10014; (212) 366-6633

Gilt - 455 Madison Ave New York, NY 10022; (212) 891-8100

Prune - 54 E 1st St New York, NY 10003-9313; (212) 677-6221

Aquavit - 65 E 55th St New York, NY 10022; (212) 307-7311

Balthazar - 568 Broadway Rm 401 New York, NY 10012; (212) 625-0948

Blue Ribbon Brasserie - 280 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11215; (718) 840-0404

davidburke & donatella - 133 East 61st Street New York, NY 10065; (212) 813-2121

Shopping: Now let’s move on to shopping in NYC, a guide for which, theoretically speaking, would take until 2020 to complete, if I went around listing everything I liked. You can do as much window shopping on Fifth Avenue as you want, but the reality is that most of the shops here are ridiculously overpriced unless you have the big bucks, and you know what you’re doing.

So I’m going to make two suggestions only - First, NYC secrets for getting hold of branded designer threads and accessories at discount prices, and secondly, some flea markets where Mom can browse and poke around for things she always wanted, but never knew it. Designer goods at irresistible prices and flea markets with thousands of hard to find items should be enough to trigger a shopping frenzy, so you might want to be ready to drag her out by force, if things start getting out of hand.

The Century 21 store between Church St and Broadway offers terrific discounts, with prices as low as 70% below retail, with 15 departments choc-a-bloc full of designer wear – Clothing, shoes, bags, gifts, linen, house ware, and a lot of stuff which is branded and looks costly, but ain’t. Net result is that the store has a slogan which says ‘Fashion worth fighting for’, and that’s exactly what you’ll end up doing, considering that everyone in NYC and their aunt knows that this store is one of the best places to shop in New York City. Info: 22 Cortlandt Street, New York NY 10007; (212) 227-9092; www.c21stores.com

If Century 21 looks like a place your Mom might want to hang out at, then you should probably also consider shopping at Gabay’s - 227 First Avenue, between 13th and 14th Street, (212) 529-4036 - which sells designer overstock at discount prices, and Syms - 400 Park Avenue, (212) 317-8200 - who are off-price representatives for a lot of brands.

If you have ever been flea market shopping in New York, you have a pretty fair idea of the rush of adrenalin and joy that comes with finding something really neat and valuable hidden amongst all the rubble of used goods. To get an idea of the popularity of flea market shopping in NYC, just consider that 20,000 people recently turned up for the Brooklyn Flea market, with a 170 vendors displaying wares trucked in from all around.

Currently open flea markets which you and Mom can visit include Brownstoner’s Brooklyn Flea at Lafayette Avenue between Clermont and Vanderbilt Avenues, Greenflea market in the West Village, at Greenwich Ave and Charles Street, the Antiques Garage flea market in the Fashion District at 112 West 25^th Street, and the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market at West 39th Street between Ninth and 10th Avenue.

Food Shopping: The best way to combine a few hours’ worth of flea market shopping, food shopping and general sight seeing in NYC is to land up at Greenwich Village. Bleecker Street there has an array of food shops which stock hard to find food items, like Murray’s Cheese Shop located at 254 Bleecker St. New York, NY 10014; (212) 243-3289, which has a variety of cheese baskets and specialty foods.

And then there’s Rocco’s Pastry Shop at 243 Bleecker St New York, NY 10014; (212) 242-6031, which has racks upon racks loaded with cookies and heavenly cakes and fresh baked goods. One gift basket each from both these shops in Mom’s hands would be a perfect way to round off a Mother’s Day shopping fest.

Spa Treatments: By the time you get through all that shopping, Mom will probably be all tired out and cranky, which would be the perfect time to usher her into a spa for a relaxing treatment or facial. One hour in one of the below listed spa’s and you’ll have a new and fully refurbished Mom ready to hit the streets again. All these are spas in NYC which are offering Mother’s Day special packages and/or discounts.

The Spa at Chelsea Pier - This spa on the Hudson River pier has dedicated the entire month of May to Mom, and they’re offering a special package where you get 50% off treatments for Mom for any other booking you make for yourself. Info: Pier 60, 23^rd St & the Hudson River New York NY 10011; (212) 336-6780; http://www.chelseapiers.com/

Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa - Luxury spa with a special gift wrapped Mother’s Day package which includes a signature Red Door robe, massage and/or facial, warm cream manicure and pedicure, and a makeup refresher. Info: 691 Fifth Avenue at 54th Street New York NY 10022; (212) 546-0398; http://www.reddoorspas.com/

Spa Chinois by Yan - Combines spa treatments with a hair salon, and you can get discounts to both, if you make use of either. And they have a customized Mother’s Day gift certificate which you can buy online. Info: 44 W 55th St, 5th Fl New York, NY 10019; (212) 245-3245; http://www.spachinois.com/

SkinTheraP - Offers an eco-friendly ‘Mom Make Over’ with a 1 hour facial and complimentary makeup makeover, which is just the ticket for you to put some new juice into your Mother’s day outing. Info: 301 E. 81st Street (off 2nd Ave.) New York, NY 10028; (212) 253-7138; http://www.skintherap.com/

The Spa & Wellness Center - Offers a Mother’s Day spa package with royal tea, which includes a full body treatment and a ‘royal’ tea with scones, muffins, sandwiches and desserts. The spa also has Sun Vegan pedicures and manicures. Info: 8804 3rd Ave Brooklyn, NY 11209; (718) 921-6100; http://www.greenspanewyork.com/

Mother’s Day Events, NYC: NYC is one of the most happening cities in the world with a vibrant culture and plenty of street fairs and concerts and stuff going on all the time, so any events organized especially for Mother’s Day need not necessarily be the best shows you can take Mom to. You just need to remember what your Mother likes, and take her to events which match her likings. If you don’t have any reservations and you just want to hang out, head for Central Park or the MET. Be that as it may, listed below are some places and events which any Mom would probably enjoy.

Around Manhattan Mother’s Day Brunch Cruise – Three hour cruise broad a motor yacht with brunch thrown in, including bagels, muffins, pastries, fruit and coffee, which takes you on a trip through the Hudson, East and Harlem Rivers.Highlights along the way include the George Washington Bridge, The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Roosevelt Island, the UN building, and the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges of the East River.Info: Chelsea Piers, near 23rd St on the Hudson River; web link; Price $85, Sunday May 11th at 11 a.m.

Mother’s Day Marsh Walk - Guided nature walk in Brooklyn with a discussion of how animal moms take care of their babies. Ok, so this might seem lame, but it could still turn out to be interesting, especially if your Mom learns how to pick you up by the scruff of your neck using her teeth…Info: Salt Marsh Nature Center, Marine Park (East 33rd Street and Avenue U) (718) 421-2021; web link; Sunday May 11^th at 1 p.m.

Mother’s Day in Prospect Park - If you liked the previous one, you’ll probably like Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Learn about bird mommies and migrations, electric and pedal boating on the park’s lake, a carousel for amusement, and also a special Mother’s Day concert and sing-a-long. Info: Sunday May 11^th from 12 to 4 p.m.; 95 Prospect Park West Brooklyn, NY 11215; (718) 965-8999, web link

Mother’s Day Reggae Festival - On May 10th at 8 p.m., at the Madison Square Garden Theater (Wamu Theater - 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121), featuring Super Cat, Buju Banton and Barrington Levy.Ticket price $74 to $150; web link

Other annual and scheduled events include: Artists-on-the-Hudson, Sunnyside - Fine food and entertainment for all ages at Sunnyside, Queens, at Washington Irving’s Home on Sunday May 11th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact: 914-631-8200

Tina de Varon Show - A one hour show by Tina de Varon at the Carlyle Hotel on Sunday May 11^th at 12:30 & 3:30 p.m. with a brunch buffet. Info: The Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th St., NYC; (212) 570-7109

NDW-NYC Mother’s Day Performance - At the New Dance Group Performance Center, with performances by the Theatre of Harlem, American Tap Dance Foundation, Dance Manhattan, Hip Hop Dance Conservatory, The Life Force in Motion, Luigi Jazz Center, NYC Bhangra Club, and many more. Info: 305 W. 38th St., 2nd floor theater, between 8th & 9th Aves. New York, NY 10018; (212) 904-1990

That just about wraps it up. Like I said before, I could write till the cows come home, and I still wouldn’t be able to cover all of New York City, let alone the entire East Coast with so much more to write about in the rest of NY, New Jersey and Connecticut. For example, the Beardsley Zoo in CT, located at 1875 Noble Avenue Bridgeport, CT; (203) 394-6565, allows all Moms free admission from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 11^th. If you know of any particularly good stuff like this for Mother’s Day in NYC or in your own city, please add to the comments.

For whatever it may be worth, my opinion is that it’s not really necessary that you spend big bucks (although that does help) to make your Mother happy. What she wants, more than anything else, is your company, and to know that you care. And that’s the meat of a Mother’s Day gift. The rest of it is just the gravy. Pity my Mom likes the darn gravy so much…