So, here’s my pop-psych analysis. The folk who live in Manhattan who are first-generation are probably pretty bright. Their children are likely to regress to the mean, that is, they are more likely to be less smart than their parents than smarter. The parents see that difference. They are afraid that their kids won’t do as well as they did, and are desperate to ameliorate the difficulties that causes. Hence the scurrying to use their skills and contacts to help the kids.

The older Manhattanites know the ropes so well they don’t even see that it isn’t fair that they are able to master things to the benefit of their children: they assume everyone does it.