§ 174. Maintenance of supreme court house building in Kings county. The supreme court house building in Kings county shall be maintained under the supervision of the justices of the supreme court residing in the county of Kings and their successors in office, who shall appoint and may at pleasure remove a custodian, an engineer and such other employees as may be necessary therefor. The expense of such maintenance shall be borne by the city of New York and shall be provided for as in the case of other public buildings in such city.