The Milky Way does have a larger concentration of stars than any other place in the sky, and that is clear to anyone who not only owns two top-of-the-line telescopes, but uses them.
Further more, the Milky Way is not aligned with Earth's Equator; in fact, it contains Acrux, a star with -63 degrees declination, and Caph, a star with +59 degrees declination, which roughly mark the southernmost and northernmost points of it.
If the stars were the cause for differences in gravitational pull, we would have a daily oscillation in the perceived Earth gravity, and anyone with a few bucks and a piezo-electric pressure sensor and voltmeter would be able to blow the conspiracy to pieces.