Why Are there No Skyscrapers between Midtown and the Financial District?

Is there a better explanation than the traditional answer of bedrock? Some experts claim the origin of the gap in the skyline actually is more related to demographics and discrimination.

Anyone looking at the New York City skyline, especially from an airplane or from the New Jersey Turnpike, can clearly see that the city’s iconic skyscrapers are concentrated in two hubs: midtown and the financial district of Lower Manhattan.

Why are the city’s tallest buildings not equally distributed throughout the island?

The conventional answer for the gap in the skyline:

Geology. According to a Rutgers University paper on the subject, “bedrock is up to 4 to 5 times deeper below the surface” between Grand Central Station and Wall Street. Since bedrock was needed to support tall buildings, there was a preference to build in midtown and Lower Manhattan where bedrock was easier to access. This has been the reason cited to visitors to New York City who have noticed the dearth of skyscrapers in Chelsea and East Village.