The suspect in the attack, pictured above, was picked up on local surveillance footage and is described as a black male in his 20s wearing all black and white Air Jordans

A 27-year-old French tourist is in a hospital in New York after having his neck randomly slashed as he was strolling with his girlfriend.

The couple had just emerged from an IHOP on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and 135th St in Harlem, when a man took out a knife and slashed the tourist's neck and face.

Terrifying video from immediately after the attack shows the young man bleeding heavily and kneeling on the ground as a first responder attempts to stop the blood.

NYPD is seeking assistance in identifying the attacker who was picked up on CCTV footage and is described as a black male in his 20s wearing all black and white Air Jordan sneakers.

Witnesses described the attack as completely random and unprovoked, saying that the attacker walked up side-by-side with the tourist and looked him in the eye before pulling out his knife.

The attacker then fled the scene.

Cell phone footage from the scene shows the man's panicked girlfriend attempting to aid emergency services hold the injury as the man kneels in a pool of blood on the street

A witness told the New York Post: 'A man and woman were walking down the street, and a guy was walking beside them, like side-by-side. Then [the attacker] turns towards [the victim], looked him in the eye and pulled out — it looked like a box cutter — and sliced him on the neck.'

'He didn't know him,' they added. 'He even looked at the guy before he cut him and made a surprised face.'

Upon arrival, police discovered the man - who was in New York visiting friends - with a laceration to the left side of his neck.

He was rushed to Harlem Hospital and is said to be in a critical but stable condition.

The French man's blood could be seen on the side walk after the attack in Harlem

The cell phone footage from the scene shows emergency services holding a piece of cloth to the man's neck in an attempt to stop blood loss as his concerned girlfriend also tries to help.

The victim is awake and alert and can be seen interacting with the officers helping him.

No arrest has yet been made and the search for the attacker is ongoing.

Police marked off the area as the hunt continued for a man who slashed the face and neck of a French tourist on Friday morning in an unprovoked attack that left him in a critical condition

NYPD were called to the scene just after 11am on Friday and continue to hunt for the suspect

The couple had just emerged from this iHop in Harlem when they were attacked at random

Locals were shocked by the incident with one local worker telling the Post: 'I'm so surprised. I just want them to catch this guy. It's so random, and it could have been me.'

'I think it's a random attack and so unexpected,' added William Modeste, 38, a local real-estate agent with Uptown Flats.

'We always have plenty of visitors in the neighborhood, and when I heard about it, I just thought, "This person had cruelty on his mind."'