Resident Killjoy John Tory Removes Pokémon Go Stops at Ferry Terminal

This is why we can't have nice things.

By Torontoist

Photo by Lú from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Looking to catch a rare water Pokémon? Your chances just got slimmer—and you can thank potential Team Rocket conspirator Mayor John Tory for that.

The mayor’s call to reduce the number of Pokéstops at Jack Layton Ferry Terminal has been answered, and the once booming Pokémon player community that congregated by the water has now died down.

The City says the high volume of Pokémon players at the terminal was causing disruptions for those who need to board ferries, as opposed to those who need to catch Pokémon.

At the beginning of the month, the City reached out to Niantic, the game developer, to help reduce the number of players at the terminal, where staff claim Pokéfans were “camped out almost 24 hours a day at the park by the terminal.” (Earlier this summer, some players also fainted while playing due to dehydration.) When the City didn’t see results, Tory stepped and emailed the company’s CEO directly, and received a response almost immediately. More than half of the Pokéstops in the area are now gone.

Some detractors say the number of players hanging around the terminal would have naturally decreased as the summer came to a close. But Tory was not willing to wait it out.

“I’m not emotionally involved with this,” he told the Toronto Star. “I’m neither playing the game nor living down there, but I represent all the people who do both of those things.”

Many Torontonians aren’t impressed with the move.

Impressive to see this morning that @johntory having solved all other problems in Toronto the priority is Pokemon. https://t.co/rsruP8xk6g

— Peter Constantinidis (@bugler) August 25, 2016

Sounds like @JohnTory has 2 much time on hands, if he's wasting any on cracking down on Pokemon Go crowd at ferry terminal! #canpoli #topoli

— William F. Sheehan (@WilliamSheehan6) August 25, 2016

@JohnTory you ruined the best place in Toronto to play Pokemon Go. You suck.

— Big T (@fxckinfaded) August 25, 2016

@JohnTory you ruined the best place in Toronto to play Pokemon Go. You suck.

— Big T (@fxckinfaded) August 25, 2016

Toronto isn’t the only city where Pokémon fever has caused issues. Just last week, players stampeded through Taiwan in an effort to catch a Snorlax. Meanwhile, a Vaporeon sighting in New York’s Central Park caused a stampede in July.