If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of this article shall be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of this article directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.
N.Y. Civ. Serv.Law § 177