NJT asserts that its appeal lies pursuant to CPLR 5601 (b) (1), which permits an appeal as of right "from an order of the appellate division which finally determines an action where there is directly involved the construction of the constitution of the state or of the United States" (emphasis added; see NY Const, art VI, § 3 [b] [1]). For a constitutional question to be directly involved it must, among other things, be preserved as a question of law (see Matter of Schulz v State of New York, 81 N.Y.2d 336, 344 [1993]; Matter of Shannon B., 70 N.Y.2d 458, 462 [1987]; see also Madireddy v Madireddy, 14 N.Y.3d 765, 765 [2010]). Thus, "the constitutional question on the basis of which the appeal as of right is taken must have been properly raised in the courts below.