if you are on a bit of a tighter budget, might i point out the ball drop in times square is completely free as long as you don t mind sharing the night with 1 million of your closest friends. zain asher, cnn, new york. zain, thanks very much. much of the nation will start the new year the same way it ended it. in the cold. the eastern half of the country will see temps mostly below normal as the first snow of the new year brings ten inches to new england. windchills in the midwest have dropped below 30 degrees. meteorologist alexander steele looking ahead to next year s forecast. hi, martin. let s start things off in new york city for times square. right now in new york, it feels like 20 degrees. tonight it will feel like 16. of course, we ve got some strong winds out there. boston, of course, if you re out there, the big library light