A friend honors the memory of an active community member
By CeCe Coffin
Dan Kohn, a long time Battery Park City resident, friend and active community member, passed away at age 47 on Nov. 1 due to complications from colon cancer, with his beautiful wife, Julie Pullen, by his side.
Dan most enjoyed spending time with his family, biking the downtown streets of NYC, traveling, cooking, and snowboarding. He was a SoulCycle Tribeca regular and always participated in the important downtown events, such as the annual Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K Run and the TD 5 Boro Bike Tour. He was a champion of the Waterfront Alliance and The River Project, and he could often be seen at the Battery Park City Ballfields cheering on his two boys, Adam and Ellis, in their DSL and DLL games. Right before our world turned upside down in March, Dan took his boys on an incredible trip through India. He loved exposing them to unique experiences and cultures.
Dan was passionate about advocating for human rights and social justice; during this past summer he was biking with Street Riders NYC every weekend to raise awareness for systemic racism. Everyone that came into contact with Dan loved him; he was always there to help a friend or neighbor in need.
He was revered in the technology circles around the world, and he was a pioneer and visionary in the ecommerce space. Most recently Dan was the General Manager at Linux Foundation Public Health where he leveraged open-source software to help public health authorities fight COVID and future epidemics. The first company Dan co-founded in New Hampshire at 21 years old, NetMarket, was considered one of the first internet companies. Dan conducted the first secure commercial transaction on the web in 1994; he sold a CD of Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales after building the first web shopping cart. This transaction of $12.48 was so significant and it changed history forever with the world’s first secure credit card transaction for a physical good.
Dan was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Swarthmore College.
CeCe Coffin is a friend of the Kohn-Pullen family.