All employees of any of the boards or commissions, the powers and duties of which are transferred to the historic sites commission by this article (s. 28:1-13 et seq.), shall, at the expiration of ninety days from July first, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two, cease to hold their employment, notwithstanding any law of this state to the contrary, unless, on or before that time, they shall have been reappointed or re-employed by the historic sites commission. Any person so reappointed or re-employed shall retain his rights and privileges, if any, under the civil service law, or any pension law or retirement system of this state.
N.J.S. § 28:1-17