Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration is eyeing a spot of land above the Big Dig to place a year-round daily farmers market, but Haymarket vendors fear their businesses will get cropped.
According to State House News Service, the open-air grocers in downtown Boston pushed back efforts to construct on the land, saying it would create unwarranted competition subsidized by the state.
Haymarket advocates want only local goods sold at the proposed site, to differ with the goods from around the world sold at the current market.
“I don’t want to create a whole new level of competition,” said Emanuel Serra, a member of the Haymarket Pushcart Association.
City officials said efforts to build a new market will only work if it supports Haymarket vendors.
The property they are scoping is a 25,000-square-foot facility on top of the Haymarket T station, located at 136 Blackstone St.
The unoccupied building is state-owned but involves federal oversight because it contains a vent for the Big Dig, according to reports.
Proponents of the proposed food venue are hoping to open next summer.
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