EAST HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- A man waiting for his food order in East Harlem suffered severe burns after a stranger hurled an unknown substance in his face, leaving him scarred and searching for answers.

Mr. Alcantara said he was standing outside a restaurant Monday night when a man walked past carrying what appeared to be a pot. Without warning, the man threw the substance at him.

"I felt a splash of something and then after I felt the splash... a complete burn," he said. "It just turned black and it ate through the hoodie."

Speaking by phone to Eyewitness News, Alcantara said the substance made his skin feel as if it were on fire. He suffered burns to the left side of his face, his ear and the back of his neck.

"I have black areas on my skin and then there's certain areas that are white and certain areas that are pink. And I also have blisters in certain areas as well," he said.

Perez said he saw the man carrying the pot but had no idea he would throw it at a customer.

"It looked hot. It was bubbling, it was smoking. Only God knows what it was," he said.

The substance left stains on the sidewalk and Alcantara with lasting injuries. He said he did not fully understand what had happened until he saw video of the attack.

"Obviously at first it was terrifying," he said. "All I wanted to know is why?"

Doctors told Alcantara he is fortunate the substance did not reach his eye.

"Thank God no," he said. "That's what the doctors were saying that they were -- that I'm lucky it didn't get into the eye because I probably would have been blind in that eye."

Alcantara will need a skin graft procedure and is unsure whether he will ever look the same. He said he hopes the suspect does not harm anyone else.

https://abc7ny.com/post/east-harlem-hot-liquid-attack-burn-victim-recounts-random-encounter-left-scarred/19894062/