It's a sight and sound that residents all over the city are used to – tour buses – jam packed with visitors, rumbling down the street with loud speakers blaring. It’s a scene some protestors say they don’t want on their residential streets.

“There are many, many tour buses throughout the city that we believe cause traffic congestion, noise, possible pollution and are a hazard to public safety,” said Barbara Backer of "Tour Buses No, Tourists Yes."

On Bleeker Street, where there's only one narrow lane with a bike lane and parking on both sides, residents say the double-decker tour buses are relentless, coming on average every three minutes starting at 8 a.m. and going till after 6 p.m.

“Loud motor noises, loud brakes squealing and the voiceover of the tour guides, which is very interesting, but not if you've heard it a hundred, maybe more times a day, week after week after week,” said resident Emily Martin.

The main offenders, say residents, are the City Sights New York buses. The diesel engine-powered coaches are a cause of great concern to community members since a recent Department of Environmental Protection report found that none of the company's 35 buses meet the terms of city emissions and pollution standards. The DEP did say the company is in the beginning stages of retrofitting its fleet to come into compliance with the law. City Sights did not return our calls for comment.

In addition to noise and pollution concerns, there's a very real safety concern as well.

“I have to depend on my hearing to know when to cross the street and these tour buses, between the racket they make and these guys blathering, I put myself in danger every time there here and I try to cross the street,” said resident Lloyd Burlingame. “So it's a particular problem for people like me. There they go, that's my point.”

“Right now, there doesn't seem to be any real regulation of routes or where they can go,” said Backer.

That’s something Councilman Alan Gerson is hoping to change through legislation.

“Our piece of legislation would for the first time give the City of New York regulatory authority governing times, routes, frequency,” said Gerson.

Gerson also hopes to pass legislation regulating sound amplification on the buses. But residents say the real solution is to get the buses off their streets.

“We have nothing against the tourists, but we'd like to see them walk and enjoy our wonderful sights here,” said resident Milton Polsky.

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