I'm not specifically familiar with NY, other than having seen a few post in this forum. I think NY only wants it if some is taxable (some recovery of previous deductions thing). It may be left over from previous entries. Or you may just need to answer no.
"Looks like he's now getting $1,000 in AOC (Form 8863)".
No. With $26K income, he should be getting more. There are two parts on form 8863 for the refundable and non refundable portions of the AOC. The refundable portion goes to line 29 of form 1040 and the non refundable to line 20
