The youth council at the Renaissance Youth Center on Third Avenue says a slaughterhouse nearby is posing a health risk to the neighborhood.

The group says that the USA Slaughterhouse on East 168th Street is an eyesore. Members are pushing for the city to change the zoning to push out the business.

"We want to improve upon the quality of life for not only ourselves but our students," says Bervin Harris, the center's CEO and founder.

He has photographs that he says show dead animals in the garbage and blood on the sidewalk in front of the slaughterhouse.

He also says there's a hole in a goat fence big enough for children to access.

The group's complaints have resonated with Assemblyman Michael Blake.

"It is not right -- it is not safe," Blake says. "It's not appropriate that a child can be walking across the street, and while they should be on their way home, having to see a carcass and blood on the ground."

The son of the slaughterhouse owner declined to speak on camera or let News 12 film inside, but says the business has passed health inspections required by law for it to operate.

He says Harris' picture of a dead animal had nothing to do with the slaughterhouse. He also says he invited Harris to have a conversation on the issue, but the offer was never picked up.