Hartford, Connecticut, 1957

On Flickr, Dave S. mentions that this wintry street scene took place in 1957 in the Front Street neighborhood in downtown Hartford. He didn’t, however, note the cause for the traffic backup and the police presence, though we can assume the weather might have something to do with both. Also, we wonder why some cars got covered in snow and some seem to have escaped the blanketing altogether. What do you see here?