Spin cycle: The Cuomo Watch

This week likely will determine whether freshman Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo can make a budget deal with legislators in time for the April 1 deadline. Now the tide is in his favor but -- as always in Albany -- there is a tricky undertow that could upend everything.

The Senate and Assembly approved their own versions of a budget. Their spending totals are close to Cuomo's $132.9 billion. But the sticking points are potentially divisive: prison closures, distribution of education cuts and a delicately sewn Medicaid package (malpractice caps and a "living wage" for some health-care workers in exchange for steep spending cuts).

Private discussions among Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) will be critical.-- Yancey Roy