my nys tax says it needs further review, any idea what this means or how long it will take to resolve and get refund? is this a common thing to happen?

If you received a letter from The NYS Department of Revenue, or if it's showing on their website when trying to track your refund, you should contact NY DOR for further information.

You can get more information on the link below

https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/refund.htm