Pokemon Go players hold ferry terminal clean-up

Dozens of Pokemon Go players held a clean-up at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal Saturday afternoon, hoping tochange the city's mind about restricting playersin the area.

The terminal is a popular spot, with several "stops" and "gyms" bringing in a huge amount of Pokemon. Hundreds of players having been showing up to catch them some leaving a mess behind.

The city says that, along with the garbage, the overcrowding is creating headaches for people heading to the island, and has asked the game's developer to remove stops from the area around the terminal.

• Toronto officials want Pokemon Go sites moved away from ferry terminal

Clean-up organizer and law school student JermainVirgo says that isn't fair, and hopes the clean-up will cause the city to have a change of heart.

"We wanted to come out and show them that we can be responsible users of the space," Virgo said.

Some players concede that they are having an impact. Matthew Solomon lives in Etobicoke and has come down to the ferry terminal "a couple of times already" to play, usually for three or four hours at a stretch.

"There's a noticeable difference in the level of garbage" compared to last time he visited, Solomon said. "When we were here last time all the tables were covered and there was garbage on the ground."

But Virgo says players have developed a sense of community at the terminal, and want to stay.

"Some of the Pokemon Go players are feeling that the city doesn't view them as legitimate users of space and are putting other citizens before them, which isn't right."