New York lawmakers on Tuesday approved the toughest gun control law in the nation, expanding the state's existing assault weapons ban and addressing gun ownership by those with mental illnesses in the first major legislative action in response to the Newtown, Conn., school massacre.

The measure passed the state Assembly 104-43 after passing the state Senate 43-18 Monday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo quickly signed the legislation on Tuesday.

"This unfortunately required tragedies and loss of life to actually spur the political process to action," Cuomo said in remarks minutes before signing the bill.

"This will be the toughest gun control package in the nation," Sen. Jeffrey Klein, leader of the Independent Democratic Conference that shares majority control with Republican senators, had told The Associated Press. "All in all, it is a comprehensive, balanced approach that will save lives."

In a statement Tuesday, the National Rifle Association said it was "outraged" and called New York's gun control bill "draconian."

The vote came as lawmakers in other states as well as the federal government wrestle with how to reduce gun violence after a series of mass shootings.

Obama to release gun proposal as early as Wednesday

President Barack Obama is set to unveil his own proposals -- based on recommendations from Vice President Joe Biden's gun task force -- on Wednesday. He is expected to focus on both legislative measures and steps that could be taken through executive action.

These steps could include cracking down on people who lie on background checks and focusing on improving school safety and mental health care. A federal assault weapons ban would require approval from Congress.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg applauded the state's bipartisan cooperation in a statement Tuesday, and suggested that it "sets an example for Washington to follow."

"The responsible and comprehensive gun reform bills the governor signed into law today will help keep guns away from criminals and others who are already prohibited from purchasing them," Bloomberg said.

Cuomo, who had called for an overhaul of gun laws in New York in his State of the State address last week, defended the provisions of the law.

"Seven bullets in a gun, why? Because the high-capacity magazines that give you the capacity to kill a large number of human beings in a very short period of time is nonsensical to a civil society," Cuomo said, according to Reuters.

Called the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, New York's law:

• Bans possession of any high-capacity magazines regardless of when they were made or sold. Only clips able to hold up to seven rounds can be sold in the state. Clips able to hold seven to 10 rounds can be possessed, but cannot be loaded with more than seven rounds. If an owner is found to have eight or more bullets in a magazine, he or she could face a misdemeanor charge.
• Requires ammunition dealers to do background checks, similar to those for gun buyers. Dealers are required to report all sales, including amounts, to the state. Internet sales of ammunition are allowed, but the ammunition will have to be shipped to a licensed dealer in New York state for pickup.
• Requires creation of a registry of assault weapons. Those New Yorkers who already own such weapons would be required to register their guns with the state.
• Requires any therapist who believes a mental health patient made a credible threat of harming others to report the threat to a mental health director, who would then have to report serious threats to the state Department of Criminal Justice Services. A patient's gun could be taken from him or her, as well.
• Stipulates that stolen guns should be reported within 24 hours.
• Tightens the state's description of an "assault" weapon. Previous state law defined an assault weapon as having two "military rifle" features, but the new law reduces that specification to just one feature
• Requires background checks for all gun sales, including by private dealers -- except for sales to members of the seller's immediate family.

One of the most controversial elements of the bill is the requirement on providers of mental health services.

"People who are mentally ill should not have access to guns, that's common sense," Cuomo said, according to Reuters. "That's probably the hallmark of this bill, coming up with a system that allows for mental-health screens."

Critics are arguing that the provision is unprecedented and draconian, but it is neither, said Art Caplan, head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center and an NBCNews.com contributor.

"For decades mental health workers have had an ethical obligation to report those they think pose a clear and present danger to others to the police and to the person who has been threatened," Caplan said. "Their codes of ethics require them to do so. The new law in New York now makes that reporting a legal duty and gives the therapist a clear set of directions as to how to report and to whom."

In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. thanked legislators and said the bill will "provide law enforcement with stronger tools to protect our communities from gun violence, including provisions that better enable us to combat gun trafficking and violent gangs, and others that close the state gun show loophole and regulate large-quantity sales of ammunition and firearms."

Critics of the proposal had accused lawmakers of playing politics with citizens' rights and hundreds of gun manufacturer jobs.

"We haven't saved any lives tonight, except one: the political life of a  governor who wants to be president," Republican Sen. Greg Ball, who represents part of  the Hudson Valley, said after the Senate vote on Monday, according to the AP. "We have taken an entire category of firearms that are currently legal that are in the homes of law-abiding, tax paying citizens. ... We are now turning those law-abiding citizens into criminals."

Assemblyman Marc Butler, a Republican, represents the upstate district where gun-maker Remington Arms Co., which employs 1,000 workers, is based. He called the closed-door meetings by Senate Republicans and the Democratic majority of the Assembly "politics at its worst."

Remington builds Bushmaster rifles in Illion, N.Y. Bushmaster semi-automatic rifles were used in the Newtown shooting and in the killing of two firefighters in Webster, N.Y.

The NRA expressed skepticism about the new law in a statement Tuesday: "While lawmakers could have taken a step toward strengthening mental health reporting and focusing on criminals, they opted for trampling the rights of law-abiding gun owners in New York, and they did it under a veil of secrecy in the dark of night."

"This legislation is not about hunters, sportsmen, or legal owners who use their guns appropriately," Cuomo said. "It is about reducing gun violence and making New York a safer place to live."

Legislators in other states also are moving forward with gun control legislation.

In New Jersey, one of 18 new gun bills submitted to the legislature would require gun buyers to submit to a psychological evaluation. A bill requiring gun owners to register annually, and another requiring all guns to be kept in lock boxes when not in use may be introduced in California. In Connecticut, state Sen. Beth Bye wants to limit access to assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and require that firearms be registered by model and serial number.

Related stories:

• Connecticut school named for slain Newtown teacher
• Support soars for tougher gun laws, surveys show
• Guns already allowed in schools with little restriction in many states

Long Island Power Authority

Michael Hervey, acting CEO of the Long Island Power Authority, announced his resignation Tuesday, two weeks after Sandy wiped out power to nearly 90 percent of the utility's customers.

Michael Hervey, head of the Long Island Power Authority, resigned Tuesday, two weeks after Superstorm Sandy hit the eastern seaboard and wiped out power to nearly 90 percent of the utility's customers.

More than 10,000 customers remained without power on Long Island on Tuesday.

Hervey, who had been with LIPA for 12 years, was chief operating officer and had been acting CEO for two years. His resignation is effective at the end of the year, according to a statement by LIPA Chairman Howard E. Steinberg.

The resignation comes on the heels of New York Gov. Cuomo's announcement of a special commission to investigate how the state’s power companies handled the storm and the nor’easter that hit a week later, The (New York) Daily News reported.

Cuomo has slammed all the power companies for how they responded to the storms but was particularly tough on LIPA, saying he would hold the utility accountable for its performance, the News reported.

"You can’t be any stronger or harsher than I have been on the utility companies," Cuomo said last week, according to Capital New York, saying he would hold them accountable for their slow performance.

"Privately, I have used language my daughters couldn’t hear, so they’ve gotten the message," Cuomo said, according to the site.

Power customers, too, were furious.

“We are sitting in a cold house. No one comes by,” John Mangin of Levittown, N.Y. told The Associated Press. “There should be criminal charges against the CEO and the executive board of LIPA for failure to do their jobs.”

Mangin joined some 300 people in protest outside LIPA's office in Hicksville, N.Y. They were protesting what they said was LIPA's lack of communication, according to the AP.

Elsewhere on Long Island, James Castellano, a father of a 2-day-old, told NBC New York that he could no longer afford to stay in Manhattan hotels, but that he worried about his newborn son being cold.

"You can't have an infant in the house freezing," Castellano said.

Hervey, who was both LIPA’s chief operating officer and the acting chief executive officer, said he had planned to step down before the storms hit, the Wall Street Journal reported.   

In the statement, Steinberg said he accepted Hervey's resignation with regret.

Hervey joined LIPA in 2000, according to his executive biography, which applauds his storm preparation. “He has implemented storm hardening policies and capital expenditure programs, which have made LIPA the top most reliable overhead utility in the State,” the bio says.

During Sandy's immediate aftermath, LIPA said on its website that it had dedicated 12,000 workers to restoring power to its customers. About 8,000 of those workers were linemen and tree-trimming crews from around the country, including some who had been airlifted in by the National Guard.

Regardless, confidence in LIPA remains low – including on Wall Street, where a credit agency warned that LIPA’s credit rating could be downgraded for how it would handle the long-term costs of Sandy, Newsday reported.

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Richard Drew / AP

A man carries gas cans at a gasoline station in New York as a police officer in the background directs cars to pumps on Friday morning.

Updated at 2 p.m. ET -- NEW YORK -- New York drivers woke up Friday to the first widespread gas rationing since the fuel crisis of the 1970s, as the Northeast struggles to recover from the devastation of Superstorm Sandy and a subsequent snowstorm.

Officials said the gas rationing was imposed because something had to be done to ease the long waits for fuel, which they say has caused panic-buying and hoarding.

Police officers were assigned to gas stations to enforce the new system, beginning their shifts at 5 a.m. in Long Island and 6 a.m. in New York City.

"This is designed to let everybody have a fair chance, so the lines aren't too oppressive and that we can get through this," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Officers would also make sure people "don't get pushy in line," Bloomberg told WOR-AM radio on Friday morning.

The nor'easter brought gusting winds, rain and snow on Wednesday and early Thursday before it moved on. Snow blanketed several states from New York to New England and stymied recovery efforts from Sandy as additional storm-weakened trees snapped and more power lines came down.

In New Jersey, after a difficult commute Thursday night that saw heavily armed police trying to quiet crowds at area bus and train stations, authorities added free buses and ferries Friday to try and ease commutes that have been four and five times longer than normal all week. Meanwhile, temporary ferry service will be offered from the Rockaways to Manhattan while the area's subway service is suspended.

New York City’s program of gas rationing is modeled on one New Jersey implemented last week -- allowing drivers to fill up on alternating days depending on their license plate number -- that has reduced lines dramatically. On Thursday, Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., told reporters he plans to re-evaluate over the weekend whether New Jersey still needs to continue its gas rationing system, reported NJ.com.

"The last two days, I've barely seen any fuel lines anymore," Christie said. "There's order, there's easy access to gas."

In New York, however, Bloomberg indicated that the city had little choice but to implement the policy.

"It now appears there will be shortages for possibly another couple weeks," Bloomberg said, later adding, "If you think about it, it's not any great imposition once you get used to it."

Bloomberg said only a quarter of the city's gas stations were open. Some were closed because they were out of power, others because they have been unable to get fuel from terminals and storage tanks that cannot unload their cargoes.

Full NBCNews.com coverage of Sandy's aftermath

Gas will be available to drivers with license-plate numbers ending in an odd number or a letter on Friday. On Saturday, drivers with license plates that end in even numbers or zero can fuel up.

Buses, taxes and limousines, commercial vehicles and emergency vehicles are exempt from the plan, as are people carrying portable gas cans. Vanity plates that do not have numbers are considered odd-numbered plates. Out-of-state drivers are also subject to the system.

But, he added, with some evidence that it's made the lines for gas shorter in New Jersey, the system was worth a try.

New Yorkers, never known for holding their tongues, let their exasperation with the bad weather show.

"Kick in the gas," the New York Post blared in a headline on its website, a day after its print newspaper hit the streets with the cover headline, "God hates us!"

Anger at utilities
Hundreds of thousands of utility customers, mostly in New York and New Jersey, are still waiting for their electricity to come back on -- and some are losing patience, demanding investigations of utilities they say are not working fast enough.  

An angry New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined the calls for an investigation on Thursday, ripping the utilities as unprepared and badly managed.

"It's unacceptable the longer it goes on because the longer it goes on, people's suffering is worse," he said.

But New Jersey Gov. Christie praised his state’s utilities, saying he expects all of his state to have power back by early Sunday.

The utilities have said they are dealing with damage unprecedented in its scope and are doing the best they can.

There is no denying the magnitude of what they have done: At the peak, more than 8.5 million homes and businesses across 21 states lost power during Sandy. Early Friday, there were more than 288,000 outages in New York and about 273,000 in New Jersey.

Some people have lived for days in the dark in temperatures near freezing.

"We lost power last week, just got it back for a day or two, and now we lost it again," said John Monticello of Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. "Every day it's the same now: turn on the gas burner for heat. Instant coffee. Use the iPad to find out what's going on in the rest of the world."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

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Slideshow: Recovering after Sandy

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A snowstorm hits the Northeast as residents are still struggling to pick up the pieces after Superstorm Sandy.

Launch slideshow

Mike Groll / AP, file

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says public pension reform was needed to stave off tax hikes.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Future public workers in New York will have their retirement benefits cut under a sweeping pension reform measure passed by state lawmakers.

The measure, aimed at reducing future public worker retiree benefit costs by some $80 billion over 30 years, was approved by lawmakers early Thursday morning after Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a first-term Democrat, struck deals with legislative leaders late Wednesday.

The legislation was tied to a clutch of bills that passed, including measures to expand Las Vegas-style casino gambling and the state's criminal DNA database.

"Without this critical reform, New Yorkers would have seen significant tax increases, as well as layoffs to teachers, firefighters and police," Cuomo said in a statement.

The approval was a defeat for labor unions, who claimed they were sold out by Cuomo. New York has the highest union membership rate among states, at just over 24 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“This deal is about politicians standing with the 1 percent — the wealthiest New Yorkers — to give them a better break while telling nurses, bus drivers, teachers, secretaries, and laborers to put up and shut up,” Danny Donohue, the president of the state’s largest union of public workers, the Civil Service Employees Association, was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

Spiraling public-sector employee pension obligations are one of the top financial problems faced by state and local governments across the U.S.

The pension reform reduces retiree benefits for future state and local government workers, increases the amount higher-earning public employees contribute toward their retirement plans, and raises the retirement age by a year to 63, among other measures.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg applauded the bill.

"Skyrocketing pension costs have caused fiscal crises in many cities and counties around New York, cutting into local governments' ability to deliver core services," Bloomberg said in a statement. "That's why mayors and county executives - from both parties, and from every region in the state - came together to support Governor Cuomo's plan."

A senior official in the Cuomo administration said that the deal will save local governments about $80 billion in pension costs over three decades. Cuomo had proposed a pension overhaul estimated to save $113 billion over three decades and relieve local governments of a growing cost in employer contributions that could threaten solvency. The deal worked out late Wednesday made changes to the plan, reducing the total but still producing a hefty savings.

In striking the deal, Cuomo scaled back the most contentious portion of his pension proposal, which would have given new public workers the option of forgoing a traditional pension and instead choosing a defined contribution plan, similar to a 401(k), according to the Times.

Reuters, The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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