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U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer met with Rep. Daniel Donovan for the first time on Wednesday since the freshman congressman was elected.

(Office of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer)

CITY HALL -- One of the Senate's most powerful Democrats has some advice for Staten Island Republican Rep. Daniel Donovan, one of the most junior members in Congress: Don't be a phony.

"Your colleagues get to see who you are," Sen. Charles Schumer said he told Donovan. "If they think you're the real deal and you're genuine, you really care, it's going to make a huge difference than if they think you're just posturing or just phony or whatever else."

Schumer met with Donovan on Wednesday for the first time since the freshman congressman was elected this past spring. The pair met for about 30 minutes in Schumer's office in Washington, D.C., and discussed Sandy recovery and resiliency efforts, transportation on Staten Island and how they'll work together for borough residents.

"The senator's been a friend for a long time," Donovan said. "We did work together when I was a district attorney."

They joined forces in 2005 to protest a video game that allowed users to simulate shooting police officers. They have also worked together to curtail prescription drug abuse on Staten Island and improve witness protection here.

"We've always gotten along well," Schumer said.

After pleasantries -- Donovan showed the senator photos of his newborn baby girl -- they talked about the buried seawall and levee system that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is calling for to protect Staten Island from future storms like Hurricane Sandy.

The $579 million project is currently undergoing a public review, with a final report on the plan expected in December. Donovan and Schumer discussed the need for local funding -- the city and state would have to share about $203 million of the cost.

"We also talked about transportation on Staten Island," Donovan said. "The senator's well aware of the plight of our commuters -- the difficulty of moving people on and off the Island."

In particular, they discussed the need for federal support of two ambitious borough transportation projects -- the West Shore Light Rail and bus rapid transit transit on the North Shore.

Schumer said Congress needs to enact a long-term funding plan for the nation's transit systems when the current transportation bill expires at the end of July.

"There are some in his party that are against the federal government funding any transit and I told him that would really hurt us in our ability to get the West Side Light Rail," Schumer said of Donovan. "Any new project, if we don't have a transportation bill, would never get funded."

Schumer will likely be the next Senate Democratic leader after Minority Leader Harry Reid retires at the end of the year. Donovan said his personal relationship with the "powerful" liberal will end up helping Staten Islanders, even though the congressman is a Republican.

"Although people will say the senator's partisan, he's not partisan when it comes to helping people," Donovan said.

Donovan also met with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Thursday. A spokeswoman for the congressman said they discussed the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, as well as other opportunities for joint legislation.