The singing bum who’s been driving Upper East Siders mad with his round-the-clock caterwauling was nowhere to be seen or heard on Monday — likely scared off by three NYPD squad cars staking out his corner.

The surprise police presence at East 75th Street and First Avenue followed a Page One report in The Post about Damond Hood, 41, who sits on a planter there and drunkenly croons at the top of his lungs.

City officials gave him free housing in January, but Hood told The Post, “I don’t get along with people at shelters.”

The plaza in front of the Saratoga condo tower, where Hood hangs out, was declared a 24-hour-a-day public space as part of the deal to build the 40-story skyscraper in 1984.

City Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) said he’s “working with the management” to get the city Planning Commission to close the area from dusk to dawn, and also ban eating and drinking, as well as “high-decibel communications or performances.”

The Planning Commission said it hadn’t yet received an application from the property owner. The management firm, J&C Lamb Management Corp., didn’t return a call for comment.

“Guy did nothing but annoy every person in the area and now that he’s gone — well, at least for now — this corner will be a better place,” a relived neighbor said.