An exposé published earlier this year by The New York Times that detailed hazardous working and health conditions and mistreatment of workers in nail salons in and around New York City "went too far in generalizing about an entire industry," the newspaper's public editor, Margaret Sullivan, wrote Friday in a column.

The two stories—"The Price of Nice Nailsand "Perfect Nails, Poisoned Workers," written by Sarah Maslin Nir and published on consecutive days in May—were widely discussed after they were published in English, Chinese, Korean and Spanish. Almost immediately, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered emergency measures to address the reported mistreatment of the workers.