No action or proceeding pending at the time when this act shall take effect, brought by or against any board, trust, council or commission and pertaining to any function, power or duty transferred to the office by this act, shall be affected by any other provision of this act, but the same may be prosecuted or defended in the name of the commissioner or the office, and upon application to the court, the commissioner or office shall be substituted as a party.
New York Legal Code