Pokemon GO playersgathered in huge numbers to New York City's Central Park on July 14 2016, at 11 p.m after the rare and illusive Water-type Eevee evolution, Vaporeon, appeared in the area. The person who took the viral video said, "I didn't catch the front of the pack that was sprinting into the park like a herd of wildebeest. Special shout out to the guy at the start of the video that jumped out of his car, left the engine running, and darted off to claim the grand prize." After the video was published on youtube and vimeo, news of the incident began to appear in various publications and on television.
The New York Police Department has issued a series of guidelines for safe behaviour in the park following the incident.
Chronology
Jul 15, 2016 10:15 AM EST First publication of a viral video on Vimeo Jul 15, 2016 First article in Gizmodo Jul 15 - Jul 18, 2016 Articles in various publications Jul 16, 2016 Viral YouTube video from the author / 5.1 million views (in 2023) Jul 16, 2016 1:50 AM NYPDCentralPark tweet with guidelines for safe behaviour in the park following the incident Jul 19, 2016 7:00 AM The news on ABC's Good Morning America
First publication of a viral video
Title: Vaporeon stampede Central Park, NYC Author: Woodzys Location: Vimeo Publication date: Jul 15, 2016 10:15 AM EST
Tweet: #PokémonGo Let's stay alert out there! Be careful when you try & #CatchEmAll Accountr: @NYPDCentralPark Location: Twitter Publication date: Jul 16, 2016 1:50 AM
Title: Chaos in Central Park as gamers leap out of their cars and leave their engines running to catch a rare POKEMON Author: Rory Tingle Location: dailymail.co.uk Publication date: 16 July 2016 22:56 BST
Title: Pokemon Go: Crowd Stampedes Through Central Park After Rare Vaporeon Sighting Author: Joyce Chen Location: usmagazine.com Publication date: 16 July 2016
Title: Pokemon Go: Video shows moment rare Vaporeon appears in Central Park and all hell breaks loose Author: Will Worley Location: independent.co.uk Publication date: Jul 16, 2016 6:31 PM
Title: Pokemon Go: Huge crowd of players rush into Central Park to catch Vaporeon Author: Robin de Peyer Location: standard.co.uk Publication date: Jul 16, 2016
Title: Pokémon Go Players Stampede Central Park in Search of Rare Vaporeon Author: Kit Steinkellner Location: vulture.com Publication date: Jul 16, 2016
Title: Pokémon Go players form stampede to catch rare Pokémon Author: Allegra Frank @LegsFrank Location: polygon.com Publication date: Jul 15, 2016 6:30 PM EDT
Title: Pokemon GO – Vaporeon appearance in Central Park causes a stampede Author: Brian @NE_Brian Location: nintendoeverything.com Publication date: Jul 15, 2016
