It was the Swiss maestro's 225th singles win in the four major tournaments in tennis, overtaking Agassi for second on the all-time list.
Agassi is the last over-30 to win a grand slam back in 2003, a feat Federer will be hoping to achieve by Sunday fortnight.
Only Jimmy Connors with 233 victories is now ahead of Federer, who is bidding for a sixth U.S. Open crown.
Federer looked below his best in his first round match against Santiago Giraldo, but put that right against Sela, who lacked the power to match him.
The third seed dropped only seven points on service on the Arthur Ashe Stadium Court and in the heat of the day seemed happier than his first match in a night session when he had complained about the slowness of the courts.
A single break gave him the first set and two breaks apiece in the following two sets saw him close out the match in impressive style.
His third round opponent will be 27th seed Marin Cilic of Croatia, who brushed aside the exciting young Australian Bernard Tomic in straight sets, for the loss of just three games later in the afternoon.
The first shock of Thursday came on Louis Armstrong where Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero came from two sets to one down to beat seventh seed Gael Monfils of France 7-6 5-7 6-7 6-4 6-4 in a near four-hour marathon match.
But 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who shocked Federer at Wimbledon, continued his impressive march with a 6-3 7-5 6-2 win over Ukraine's Sergei Bubka.
World number one Novak Djokovic was in action in the evening session in New York as he bid to join Federer in the third round.
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