MELVILLE, N.Y.—Hal Rothstein, co-owner and president/CEO of Hirsch Optical, passed away here on June 6 following a lengthy illness. He was 74 years old and lived in Dix Hills, N.Y.

Rothstein was born April 2, 1937 in Brooklyn, N.Y. After receiving law degrees from Columbia University and New York University, he became an associate and a member of several law firms in New York City, and was also engaged in solo practice in Melville. He became a partner in the firm Rothstein & Weinstein in Melville, N.Y. from 1977 through 2000. He then served as counsel to Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C. in Uniondale, N.Y. where he was a member of the firm’s corporate & securities department.

In 1978, Rothstein became a silent partner in Hirsch Optical, a small wholesale laboratory in Farmingdale, N.Y. He became actively involved in the management of the lab in 1980, overseeing its growth as it developed into one of the major labs in the New York metropolitan area. Hirsch Optical is currently managed by his son, Michael Rothstein and Ken Mittel, the lab’s longtime manager.

Rothstein was a former president of Global Optics, a buying group and marketing services organization for labs. He was also active in a number of not-for-profit organizations and has served as founder, legal counsel and a director of the Dystonia Foundation. For many years, he was legal counsel and director of The Guttman Institute, the nation’s leading mammography facility, until that facility was merged into Sloan Kettering. He also served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.

Rothstein is survived by his wife, Roz, his sons Michael and Douglas, his daughter Lori and five grandchildren. Donations can be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Long Island Chapter.