I signed a 1 year lease contract with an automatic renewal clause if the landord was not notified 60 days before the end of the lease (in my case Dec 15)

I sent my written response Dec 15, the landord received the note Dec 21 and he is now holding me responsible for early termination (2 months rent) as stated in the contract.

Question 1: is this a prohibited renewal clause in the Bergen County or the State of New Jersey?

Question 2: can the landord enforce the early termination having received the note just 6 days later? They had 54 days to look for another tenant.

Question 3: if the landlord will run major renewal works (such as replacing the hardwood floor with carpet), should I still be liable for 2 months rent? They could not rent the apartment anyway during those works.

Question 4: the landord already sent me the payment request for February, shouldn't he wait until the end of the month to see if they rented the apt to someone else?

Thanks

Fab