More than 90 volunteers canvassed North Shore streets Saturday to install free smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in hundreds of homes.
The Red Cross said it is working with the city and the city fire department to provide the devices free of charge.
The National Fire Protection Association said the risk of dying in a home fire is half as high when there a working smoke alarm is present.
"People don't realize it, but they have two minutes to vacate their house when there's a fire," said Joseph Spaccarelli, the program director for Get Alarmed NYC. "So that's all you have and that's not a lot of time."
"New York is full of apartments," volunteer Jennifer Pearseil a volunteer said. "So if you think about it, you're putting the people above you at risk, you're putting the people side by side and below you at risk."
The groups said it hopes to install 100,000 smoke and carbon monoxide alarms for city residents over the next two years.