Maria Ha and Daniel Lee are still traumatized.
They say they were verbally attacked on 1st Avenue and East 22nd Street on Sunday.
The woman being accused of this has now been identified as Maura Moynihan, who is the daughter of late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
"She said, ‘You're not from here, you're from China, go back.’ We're here because we thought it's diverse, it’s inclusive, like that's what New York is all about,” said Ha.
In a statement, Moynihan said the dispute was over an unfortunate misunderstanding over hailing a cab that “had nothing whatsoever to do with any bias or racism or anti-Asian-American prejudice, as has been wrongly suggested.”
Moynihan went on to say “on the contrary, I have devoted most of my life to working with and for Asian people, most particularly in the cause of securing basic human rights for the Tibetan people in their continuing struggle against Communist China.”
Still, the incident, first reported by ABC7 New York, has many on edge as Anti-Asian hate crime is on the rise.
Stanley Mark, with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, says long-existing biases toward Asian-Americans have been inflamed by rhetoric, including from former President Donald Trump.
"We've always been looked at as perpetual foreigners and I think that's a stereotype that comes from legal discrimination, so that plays into the context and the current wave of anti-Asian violence,” said Senior Staff Attorney Stanley Mark.
The NYPD says there have been at least six hate crimes against Asian-Americans so far this year, but the need for evidence of a bias motive makes possible hate crimes difficult to prosecute.
The suspect in Tuesday's deadly Atlanta-area spa shootings is not being charged with a hate crime after telling authorities he targeted them because of a “sex addiction.”
In the meantime, Moynihan maintains she deplores bigotry.
She detailed more of the incident, telling NY1, “I mistakenly thought she was trying to cut me off and take my cab. I objected and the whole thing was over in 20 seconds. The woman left, and I got in a cab. Suddenly, she returned with a man, who began verbally assaulting me and hurling a series of awful, racist accusations. By this time, I regretted challenging the woman over a taxi, but there was little I could do, and we mercifully drove off.”
Ha and Lee say they filed a police report.
"Whatever your past work is doesn't justify what you say, or how you conduct yourself. You say a racial slur and it's inappropriate and unacceptable,” said Lee.
Officials urge anyone who is the victim of a possible hate crime to contact police. You can also access resources at stopaapihate.org