8000 miles from Manhattan, barefoot, topless, whip-thin men forge commonplace, street-level pieces of New York City from ladles of molten metal: manhole covers.

For the New York Times International section November 2007

Full story on NYTimes.com: New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India
Audio Slideshow on NYTimes.com : From Ladles of Molten Metal

Additional Discussion and Press:

Opinion Editorial on NYTimes.com: Those Lovely Manhole Covers
Letters to the Editor on NYTimes.com: Beautiful Manhole Covers, but at What Price?

Gawker: The World Is Flat, Round: Topless Indians Found in Manhole Shocker
Gothamist: Indian Manhole Production Photos "Disturb" Con Ed
Dani Rodrik: Sweatshops, sweatshops everywhere
Democratic Underground: New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India
Sepia Mutiny: The Men Who Make the Manhole Covers
The Consumerist: ConEd's Manhole Sweatshops: "Taking It Seriously"
Boing Boing: Audio slideshow of where NYC manhole covers are made