I agree - all good points. I looked at that umbrella of trees and thought, If it's cropped out, the atmosphere of the scene is lost. But then I felt that the remaining branches and leaves carried that part of the theme. In the cropped version there's enough of the various cars to fully develop that part of the feel of the scene. I felt the kids were the main focus and see the tight crop as a book jacket illustration or even a movie poster.
Either way, this is just a great example of street photography. It's almost like looking at a moving image, there is so much action there.
But all that is superfluous as Jim does not prefer the crop. And that's that.
Rich