Dressed in a grey T-shirt and dark pants, Azzarello calmly walked to the center of the block-long park before he suddenly threw all his pamphlets into the air, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said.

“He then takes a canister and pours some kind of liquid on himself and lights himself on fire,” Maddrey said. “The male takes a couple of steps while he’s on fire and eventually falls into a police barrier and falls down to the ground.”

Azzarello caught fire, as did a small patch of concrete where some of the accelerant, described as an alcohol-based liquid used for cleaning, had spilled, Maddrey said. The flames reached about 8 feet high as first responders tried to put out the blaze, images from the incident show.

“They used coats, they used fire extinguishers,” Maddrey said. “Eventually, the FDNY responds and was able to extinguish the fire.”

EMS rushed Azzarello to New York Presbyterian-Cornell Hospital, where he was in critical condition Friday afternoon. Three police officers and a court officer were also taken to area hospitals suffering from smoke inhalation, fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said.

A 73-year-old man who had been walking through the park heard a clattering of the papers when they hit the ground — then saw something he wished he hadn’t.

“The papers were kind of stiff. That drew my attention,” the man, who identified himself as Dave, said. “I saw him take out a can of liquid and put it over his head.

“He doused himself real good at which point I thought ‘This is going to be awful.'” Dave said, recalling the horrific scene. “He then took out a lighter and lit himself on fire.”

It took first responders “a while” to put out the blaze, Dave said.

“He was fully aflame,” he said. “It was pretty bad. I don’t want to talk about it.”

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