Salons fight back: manicurist regulations.

• Author: Brown, Elizabeth Nolan
• Position: Citings - Brief article

REPORTER SARAH Maslin Nir wanted to draw attention to what she saw as widespread exploitation of New York City nail salon workers--and boy, did she succeed. Nir's two-part series, published in The New York Times in May, set social media alight and spurred the enactment of "emergency protections" by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, including the creation of a Nail Salon Enforcement Task Force.

By mid-July, state inspectors had visited 755 salons and issued 1,799 violations. The governor called these efforts a "step forward to protect the dignity and rights" of employees. But staff and owners beg to differ. In August, salons across the city closed their doors for several days to protest the new measures. Signs posted on some shuttered businesses said the closure was due to "unfair regulations."

"The government doesn't really help any nail art workers" but rather "destroys their occupations" and "use[s] the law as a method to collect...