The sounds of snare drums, bongo drums and bucket drums, a familiar and frequent annoyance to those who live near Zuccotti Park, moved uptown on Sunday to the East Side home of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Well, not exactly.

The intention of the Occupy Wall Street protesters was to stage a 24-hour drum circle in front of the mayor’s town house on East 79th Street. But the protesters were blocked at each corner by a line of police officers and metal barricades.

The police not only kept the drummers away; they also restricted access to all except those who lived on Mr. Bloomberg’s block.

Norman Siegel, a civil liberties lawyer, said that the decision to bar protesters from Mr. Bloomberg’s block was contrary to the law, which allows people to walk on a block as long as they do not block entrances, exits or other pedestrians.