Sarah Taddeo

@sjtaddeo

Where Pokémon Go is, the people will follow.

The wildly popular smartphone gaming app draws crowds to certain areas in Rochester via PokéStops, where players can pick up certain Pokemon creatures to use in game play. There are three PokéStops containing rare Pokémon creatures in the area of the boat launch at Irondequoit Bay State Marine Park, and throngs of players have put police on alert.

“It almost looks like a popular tourist destination, but everyone’s on their phones,” said Sgt. John Ballesty of the Irondequoit Police Department. The area is on the department’s “special attention list,” which means police check the area more often to make sure people and drivers are safe, he said.

The crowds are becoming an issue at the county-run park, said Irondequoit Town Supervisor Dave Seeley, and he requested Friday that the area PokéStops be removed.

Pokémon Go players have been asked to refrain from playing the game at such sites as the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland. Rochester area cemeteries have requested PokéStop removal on their properties after players disrupted burial services and scaled cemetery walls after hours.

STADDEO@Gannett.com