Mayor Bloomberg and one of his political rivals, the speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller, shared the spotlight yesterday to announce increased service for the Staten Island Ferry.

The negotiated agreement takes off the table an issue that has divided the mayor and Mr. Miller, one of four Democrats looking to replace him, in a borough where both are trying to drum up election-year support.

The deal is a slightly diluted version of a bill the mayor vetoed in December, but it still increases service during weekday rush hours, overnight, and on weekends.

One reason it is significant is that the council’s override of the mayor’s veto in January had put in place the groundwork for the administration to file a lawsuit. That option is no longer in play.

Mr. Miller used the override a few months ago to label the mayor as “out of touch” with Staten Islanders’ needs, while the mayor’s office said the speaker’s “shameless pandering was matched only by his reckless spending.”

The mayor said the cost of the increased ferry service was too high, and argued that the council did not have the authority to mandate and micromanage city services.

Yesterday, the two men were outwardly cordial, but the dynamic between them was awkward.

Mr. Bloomberg, who captured approximately 77% of the Staten Island vote in the 2001 mayoral election, reserved most of his praise for Council Member Michael McMahon, the lead sponsor on the bill and a Democrat who represents the North Shore of the Island.

Mr. Miller, meanwhile, criticized the existing service, though he did not explicitly attack the mayor.

When Mr. McMahon finished his remarks, he triumphantly lifted both men’s hands as he stood squarely between them. The move, as Mr. Miller pointed out, was the surefire photo of the day.

It was clear, however, that Mr. Miller and Mr. Bloomberg did not feel the need to stand in unity for long. During a question-and-answer session that followed the announcement, Mr. Miller offhandedly said he was trying to make the 1 p.m. ferry as he looked over his shoulder at the passengers clustered by the gate. Mr. Bloomberg jumped in a few minutes later to remind the speaker that the boat was about to leave.

When a reporter attempted to ask a question unrelated to the ferry service, the mayor quickly shot back: “No, no, no. We’re still working on boats, and the speaker wants to make his 1 o’clock boat.”

An aide to Mr. Miller later said he had to be at a private meeting and then at Regis High School at Manhattan for an event.

The new legislation, which still needs approval from the full council, replaces the version the council previously passed.

It will require the city to start the more frequent rush-hour service an hour earlier, to make runs every 15 minutes instead of every 20 minutes during some peak periods, and to provide more frequent trips late at night and on weekends.

In addition to the added service, the city will start counting passengers and reporting back to the council so the two sides can rely on statistics to determine if more runs are warranted.

The news is sure to go over well with the 65,000 passengers who ride the ferry daily and the rest of the borough’s nearly 500,000 residents.

The mayor estimated the cost at roughly $5.1 million a year once all services are fully implemented. The rush-hour increases will take effect 90 days after the law is enacted, and the weekend service will go into effect within the year, giving the city the time to get more staff trained.

Political analysts said the deal had two main political ramifications. It eliminated an issue for Mr. Miller and the other three Democrats to hammer Mr. Bloomberg on as the mayor tries to solidify support on Staten Island at the end of a first term in which he raised property taxes. It also gives Mr. Miller an issue to take credit for while campaigning in the run-up to the September primary.

“It’s a plus for both Bloomberg and Gifford,” a veteran Democratic political consultant, Jerry Skurnik, said.

The council’s Republican minority leader, James Oddo, who also stood with the speaker and mayor yesterday, said his Staten Island constituents are an important group of voters with a lot of leverage.

“Without that leverage, it’s not a leap to think that the status quo would remain,” Mr. Oddo, who has butted heads with the Republican mayor in the past three years, said.

The head of the Ferry Riders’ Committee, Tamara Coombs, said it was the first real improvement to service since she moved to the borough 14 years ago.

“I’m not terribly savvy when it comes to those political things,” Ms. Coombs said. “Our job on the Ferry Riders’ Committee is to make the voices of ferry riders heard. It’s up to the politicians to take that information forward.”