This episode crisscrosses with a Law & Order Criminal Intent: Legacy-S7 E19. Both of them use the Surname Nobile, in Legacy it's the mother of Tessa, whose name is also in Vanities Bonfire. The mother in SVU is Dia Nobile and her daughter is Tessa. In CI Anna Nobile's daughter is Tessa and Anna teaches at Manor Hill which is used in the following SVU: Lessons Learned-S14 E8.
The title of this episode refers to Tom Wolfe's book The Bonfire of the Vanities, which was adapted to the movie The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) starring SVU main cast member Richard Belzer. Ironically, Belzer was only credited and did not actually appear in this episode.