Hundreds of thousands of revelers braved temperatures in the high teens to welcome 2009 at the Crossroads of the World Wednesday night.

Former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg in triggering the traditional ball drop, ushering in the new year with a new 12,000-pound Waterford Crystal ball that was several times larger than the ball used last year.

The temperature, cold all day long, dropped below 20 degrees at around 9 p.m. and was 18 degrees in Times Square as midnight approached.

John Lennon's "Imagine" played in the moments leading up to the final 60-second countdown. When the clock struck midnight at the end of the ball drop, there was a brief "Auld Lang Syne" and then Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" played as revelers danced and hugged.

Some of the Times Square crowd had waited as much as 12 hours to see the momentous occasion.

"I just feel like it's something you have to do once in your life," said an attendee.

"I mean, growing up as a kid you always got to watch the ball drop, right? So I'm like, why not do it in real life?" said a second.

"I've seen it on TV so many times but I've never done anything like this before, I've loved it," said a third.

Speaking with NY1, the mayor shared his new year's resolutions.

"I always have the same three New Years resolutions, which typically last a day - improve my golf game, improve my Spanish and reduce my waistline," joked Bloomberg.

More than 1,100 newly-graduated members of the NYPD helped patrol the streets, many of which were closed to traffic to accommodate the celebration. Public transportation around the area was also rerouted through the early-morning hours (see below).

The famous New Year's Eve ball passed its pre-New Year test on Tuesday. At 12 feet long and nearly 12,000 pounds, this year's ball was twice as long and four times as heavy as the previous model. There were 26,000 Waterford crystals on the ball, along with 32,000 bulbs.

This year's ball drop was the coldest in ten years. In 1997, the temperature was 17 degrees at midnight.